Islanders coach Patrick Roy takes responsibility for special teams woes

Patrick Roy fell on his sword.

Sitting at the podium in the small alcove a few yards away from the Northwell Health Ice Center practice rink Thursday morning, the Hall of Famer repeatedly was asked about the Islanders’ power play and penalty kill.

The queries could be distilled to: Why are they not working? What changes are being considered? What needs to improve?

Eventually, Roy was asked what he could or would do differently in order to effect different, more positive results from those vital units. His answer was to lament that not enough time in training camp was allotted to special teams.

“I feel like [we] should have spent more time on the PK and power play in training camp,” Roy said after a half-hour, special teams-intensive practice. “I’ll take part of the blame on this because maybe I could have put more emphasis on the power play and PK during the training camp, but here we are.”

Where the Islanders are is last in the NHL in both the power play conversion rate (12.1%) and penalty kill success rate (64.3%). That’s an inconvenient reality for a group that believes itself to be a Stanley Cup playoff contender in a league in which the performances of the specialty units often help determine whether a team qualifies for the tournament.

Of the 16 teams in both conferences that began the day in playoff position, nine ranked in the top half of the league in penalty kill percentage and 11 were in the top half in power play percentage. Five teams — Carolina (fifth in power play, third in penalty kill), Florida (sixth in power play, 12th in penalty kill), New Jersey (second in power play, ninth in penalty kill), Tampa Bay (third in power play, 16th in penalty kill) and Vancouver (ninth in power play, 13th in penalty kill) — were in the top half of the league in both categories.

“If we’re going to have success going forward here, then we need to be better [on the] PK and power play,” Ryan Pulock said. “It’s such an important part of the game, and when you’re in the bottom or near the bottom in both, obviously that’s not a good situation to be in. So I think the beauty of it is there’s only one way to go, and that’s up.”

Pulock’s logic is inarguable. But before the Islanders can improve, they first must address the problem. And, as Scott Mayfield pointed out, several factors explain why the penalty kill has been ineffective.

“I think it’s a combination of a bunch of stuff,” said Mayfield, who at one point during a drill huddled with Casey Cizikas and associate coach Benoit Desrosiers. “It’s been different things every game.”

One particular aspect has been the risk-reward that penalty-killers face between blocking shots and giving Ilya Sorokin a clear line of vision at opposing shooters.

“I’m [telling] Ilya, ‘Just let the guys know what you want,’ ” Roy said. “Ilya is the key guy on the [penalty kill]. Let’s not kid ourselves.”

Notes & quotes: Anthony Duclair was a full participant in practice and Roy said it “will be a game-time decision” whether he plays Saturday against John Tavares and the Maple Leafs . . . An Islanders spokesperson announced that Semyon Varlamov was placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Dec. 3.