New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy made it clear before Isaiah George’s NHL debut that he wasn’t going to shelter the 20-year-old against the Pittsburgh Penguins’ stars.
“We’re not protecting him. There won’t be protecting thing here,” Roy said. “We need to see what he can do, 100 percent.”
Roy kept his word.
George played 15:41 in his debut, taking four shifts in the first (2:16 TOI) period before quickly earning Roy’s trust:
He took 17 shifts between the second (6:15 TOI) and third period (6:30 TOI) before even getting a 40-second shift in overtime.
Here’s his TOI breakdown:
#Isles Isaiah George’s ice-time breakdown in his #NHL debut as he clearly earned trust early in limited minutes in the first, leading to him getting extensive time in the second and third, before getting a shift in overtime: pic.twitter.com/h1H9lKeHya
— Stefen Rosner (@stefen_rosner) November 6, 2024
Around the 4:30 mark of the third, George turned the puck over in front of Sorokin, flubbing a pass, with Noel Acciari getting a strong shot off.
Sorokin and Scott Mayfield came up large to keep the Islander down only a goal, which was just a goal.
Here’s the play:
At that point in time, Roy had a decision to make.
With the Islanders down 2-1 at the time in the game, one that Roy stated post-game was a “must-win,” it would have been understandable to take George out of the rotation.
But Roy chose to do the opposite, throwing him right back on the ice a few minutes later.
“Yeah, it means a lot,” George said about Roy showing confidence in him after his turnover. “It was kind of a fluke play. I just tried to reverse, go D-to-D back there and just kind of heeled off my stick there. I just kept a positive mindset. I just kept going and just forgot about that shift.”
Roy didn’t have to explain exactly why he made the decision because we knew why. George, at 20, is his fifth professional game, and his first NHL game was going to have his learning moments.
It was important to see how George would bounce back, especially after such a solid start.
Once Roy saw that he shook the mistake off like a pro, there was zero concern playing him forward.
Roy giving him shifts late in the third and even in overtime (4-on-4 after penalties) spoke volumes about how the Hockey Hall of Famer viewed his youngster.
“Outstanding. Except for that one turnover, I thought he had a solid game,” Roy said. “I mean, he skates, and he’s moving well. I think the more he’s going to play, I think he’s going to feel more comfortable out there. Good for him. I was happy that he was here tonight because he played a lot of minutes for his first game. I thought it was good minutes. I was very pleased with his performance. Hey, he even played in overtime. Come on. Good job, kid.”
The Hockey News caught up with Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson to see what he thought of his George’s debut.
“I thought he played really well. I thought he had good poise out there,” Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson told THN. “It’s not an easy game to come into, playing against some good players out there. But he looked good, was poised, and made good plays, smart plays.
“So, I’m happy to see him come in, and he contributed well for us.”
We asked Dobson about George’s ability to bounce back after his mistake.
“I mean, I go out there and make mistakes. Mistakes are going to happen,” Dobson said. “But that’s when you rely on your partner to clean it up. He brushed it off, went out there, and had a good next shift, so that’s what you would like to see.
“Anytime you have a bad mistake, you want to come out and get past it the next shift. So he did really well.”
Whether Alexander Romanov (day-to-day, upper body) can return to the lineup later this week or, somehow, Mike Reilly (day-to-day, upper body) can return, George earned another game.
Not only did Roy show complete trust early on, but he played almost double the minutes of Dennis Cholowski (8:00 TOI).
The Islanders are off on Wednesday before playing the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at 7 PM ET across the Canadian border.
