“I was nervous at the start of the game,” said Roy, who said he was surprised to get coach Jean Perron’s season-opening game goaltending nod ahead of Steve Penney.
The Canadiens would win the 23rd of their 24 Stanley Cup championships in 1985-86, Roy winning the Conn Smythe Trophy.
“I asked myself whether this would be different than preseason games, but everything happened pretty quickly,” he said. “I made a few good saves and that gave me confidence.”
As for Lemieux’s goal, the current New York Islanders coach shrugged, “I didn’t see the puck until it was in the net.”
He wouldn’t be the first, nor the last, goalie to say that.
Roy had a save percentage of .889 with 24 saves in his first career start; against the Penguins lifetime, with the Canadiens and the Colorado Avalanche, he had 25 wins, eight losses and 6 ties with a .916 percentage and 2.44 average. With Colorado, Roy never lost to Pittsburgh, with nine wins and two ties.
