The Islanders made it just six games into the season before making a change to their coaching staff. 

Goaltending coach Piero Greco was let go Wednesday morning and replaced by Sergei Naumovs, who was previously the goaltending coach for AHL Bridgeport. 

The change comes amid a slow start to the season for Ilya Sorokin, who has just an .873 save percentage and 3.90 GAA through his first five starts, though Tuesday’s performance against San Jose — in which he turned aside 33 of 36 shots — was by far his best game so far. 

“I think you know the answer,” coach Patrick Roy said when asked whether Sorokin’s play influenced the decision. 

Naumovs, a native of Riga, Latvia, has known Sorokin since 2018 and worked with him as CSKA Moscow’s goalie coach in Russia’s KHL. Sorokin has used Naumovs as his personal goalie coach and worked with him in the summers. 

“Piero’s done a great job for the organization the last seven years,” general manager Mathieu Darche said. “We just felt at this time, it was the right timing to have a reset with our goalies. There’s obviously a history with Sergei and Ilya. We just made that decision going forward to have a little reset for our goalies.” 

Darche said he did not consult with Sorokin prior to making the decision. Sorokin said the move surprised him, and expressed thanks to Greco, who had been with the Islanders since 2017 and worked with Sorokin throughout his time in the NHL. 

Greco, Darche said, was not given another role in the organization. The Islanders’ coaching staff is now without any holdovers with ties to Lou Lamoriello — while Greco wasn’t hired by Lamoriello, the two worked together in Toronto — though the front office and scouting staff still have plenty. 

“I respect him [as a] coach and [as a] human,” Sorokin said. “He gave me a lot.” 

For now, Chris Terreri, who holds the director of goaltending title, will take on the role Naumovs previously held in Bridgeport. Naumovs’ appointment in the NHL is for the rest of the season, not on an interim basis. 

“We talked about it, Mathieu and I,” Roy said. “We both agreed that was in the best interest of the team. I [worked] with [famed goaltending coach] Francois Allaire for years, and having Sergei in the area, Ilya’s been working with him for years. So I think it was just a matter of time that we felt that was the right decision to make.” 

Roy broke his long-standing rule not to work with goaltenders last week when he stayed on with Sorokin after a morning skate. In retrospect, that was a red flag for Greco’s job security. 

While Roy and Darche have said that was only to work with Sorokin on the mental side of the game, Sorokin appeared to contradict that account Wednesday. 

“[Roy] gives me some advice, technical and mental,” Sorokin said. “So I really appreciate it. It’s very helpful, he’s giving good advice.” 

Sorokin will have some time to get used to the new situation before his next start, with David Rittich set to be in net Thursday against the Red Wings. Sorokin will play Saturday in Philadelphia. 

Though Tuesday night’s performance was encouraging, the Islanders cannot afford for Sorokin to be shaky in goal. His struggles through his first four starts, allowing four goals in each of them, including a couple of low-danger shots that should have been easily stopped, were positively alarming. 

It appears that Darche saw no choice but to act. 

“Ilya’s a quiet person. Ilya wants what’s best for the team,” Roy said. “We all want what’s best for the team. I think sometimes they’re tough calls. This one was a really tough one.”