Islanders players still back Patrick Roy despite a fading season
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy looks on during the first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs at UBS Arena on Thursday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Patrick Roy acknowledged that he had no support for saying this, but he believes the Islanders are playing good hockey.
This after a hard-fought 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs on Thursday night at UBS Arena left the Islanders losers of three straight and seven of 10 and in last place in the Metropolitan Division heading into Sunday night’s match in Boston to open a three-game road trip.
Apropos of that, there’s little to support president/general manager Lou Lamoriello’s preseason supposition that a full season of Roy behind the bench would provide enough of an impact to warrant not altering the team’s core of players. This roster is almost certainly what its 14-18-7 record says it is.
However, there is full evidence that this roster still fully supports Roy and enjoys playing for him. And that’s something.
Roy’s decision late in Tuesday’s 3-1 loss in Toronto to leave Ilya Sorokin on the bench in the final minute despite a faceoff in the Islanders’ zone — which led to John Tavares’ empty-net power-play goal — spoke well to the players.
And while this might be grasping at straws at this point of a potentially lost season that has yet to reach its midpoint, Roy’s motivational skill is at the forefront of any hope of the Islanders making a long-shot playoff push.
Here’s Mathew Barzal’s answer when asked after Thursday’s game about the difficulty of mentally dealing with the losses even though there are things the Islanders believe they are doing well:
“Yeah, it’s not super-easy,” Barzal said. “The good thing is we’ve got a coach who comes with energy every single day and puts belief into us.”
Defenseman Adam Pelech said Roy’s decision to leave Sorokin off the ice for an extra skater showed the team how much he wanted to win.
Roy explained after the game that he felt if the Islanders lost that faceoff, the game was over anyway and that their best chance, playing shorthanded, was to be able to shoot the puck the length of the ice and then retrieve it.
“When Patty said we were pulling Ilya, I thought everyone was happy that he’s giving us a chance to win, it feels like,” Pelech said. “Because if we get that puck back five-on-five, we can control it. So honestly, I think it was the right call.
“I think as a player, it feels like your coach believes in you, which is a good feeling. It gives you confidence as a player, which is so important. Everyone in this room was behind him.”
Brock Nelson added that while the move was “unorthodox,” it did show Roy’s “belief” in his players.
“It’s aggressive,” Nelson said. “High risk, high reward.”
Roy was told his players’ reactions to his decision and somewhat humbly said it made him feel as if he is doing his job properly.
“That’s all I’m trying to do,” he said. “I’m here to help this team. I’m here to help the players. That’s what I said in one of our meetings. In the past, coaches would dictate a lot of things. Now coaches are here to support the players. Help the players. Bring ideas.”
A lot has gone wrong for the Islanders this season. But the players tuning out Roy is not one of them.
Notes & quotes: The Islanders did not practice on Friday, so there was no update on rookie defenseman Isaiah George, who exited Thursday’s loss in the second period for the concussion protocol after taking a high elbow from Max Domi . . . The International Ice Hockey Federation announced on Friday that former Islanders Zdeno Chara of Slovakia (1997-2001, 2021-22) and Frans Nielsen (2007-16) of Denmark will be inducted into its hall of fame as part of the class of 2025.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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