Brock Nelson on coming back to Long Island to face Isles: 'It's weird now'

His Avalanche teammates kept throwing tissues and tissue boxes toward Brock Nelson in the visitor’s dressing room before Thursday night’s game against the Islanders at UBS Arena.

The gag is that Nelson typically keeps his emotions in check as well as any other NHL player. Perhaps playing his first game on Long Island after 13 seasons as an Islander could be conducive to showing emotion, much as he did in an interview with MSG Network’s Shannon Hogan in his last game at UBS Arena before being traded on March 6.

But Nelson, who had an assist in the Avalanche’s 6-3 loss, kept it in check during a video tribute highlighting his time with the Islanders during a first-period stoppage. The video started with the interview with Hogan and went all the way back to his draft day in 2010, when the Islanders picked him 30th overall.

Nelson acknowledged the standing ovation by touching his heart and waving to the crowd and the Islanders’ bench.

“It’s more fun to see everybody, like walking in Garden City to get a coffee,” Nelson said when asked in the morning if he anticipated getting emotional. “It’s still so familiar. Obviously, it’s not home right now, but it was for a long time and a lot of great memories.

“Got in late [Wednesday] night. My family came out, my wife and kids. Got dinner with them. It’s kind of funny seeing their perspective. It’s the first time for them to be back. They said it still feels like home. It feels like we went on a vacation.

“It’s weird now. It was fun to play those guys first there, to have that being the first time seeing them. Here is just quite a bit different.”

If anything, watching the video tribute was more emotional for his former teammates. “What he did for this organization you can’t put into words,” Casey Cizikas said. “He embraced what it meant to be an Islander and he deserved every single second of that.”

Nelson, 34, notched a goal and an assist as the Avalanche beat the Islanders, 4-1, in Denver on Nov. 16. His assist on Thursday extended his point streak to five games (three goals, five assists); he has six goals and seven assists in 11 games dating to Nov. 11. Overall, he has nine goals and nine assists in 27 games for the NHL-best Avalanche (19-2-6).

Nelson, who signed a three-year, $22.5 million extension that is believed to be the same as former president/general manager Lou Lamoriello offered him before trading him to Colorado, played 901 games as an Islander, the fifth most in team history. His 295 goals are tied for fifth on the franchise list after Anders Lee matched him in the first period Thursday. His 574 points are eighth.

“It’s great to see him, great to have him here,” said Lee, who chatted with Nelson as he came out to the Avalanche bench before the Islanders’ morning skate. “Expecting a warm welcome for him. Brock meant a lot to this room and a lot to this organization for a long time. I know the fans are probably excited to give him a little love that he deserves.”

Former Islander Devon Toews, traded to the Avalanche in 2020, said he was not surprised that Nelson signed an extension in the offseason after the Islanders swapped him in a deal that netted rookie center Cal Ritchie and a first- and third-round pick.

“I think he really enjoyed his time [after the trade] and he fits so well into our team and he’s a huge part of our success,” Toews said. “He’s been on fire lately and really finding his footing.”

Nelson spent part of Wednesday going to his family’s favorite sushi place in Port Washington before visiting former teammates Cal Clutterbuck and Josh Bailey and their families. He and his wife, Karley, have four children and Nelson said, “They act like no time has passed.”

But Nelson also gave thought to the in-game video highlighting his Islanders career.

“You don’t reminisce too much, but having never gone through it before, it will be fun to see different things,” he said. “When I see Bails and Clutter, that brings up a lot.”

Tissues, please.