Patrick Roy tells Islanders fans that team is working 'extremely hard' to make them proud

Perhaps the NHL’s three-game holiday pause came at the perfect time for Bo Horvat and the Islanders.

Horvat wore his frustration on his sleeve after Monday’s 7-1 loss to the Sabres at UBS Arena. For the last three days, he and his teammates had to sit with those emotions as they awaited Friday morning’s practice at Northwell Health Ice Center.

“It adds more fuel to the fire,” Horvat said after the practice. “You definitely didn’t enjoy your break as much as you wanted to. Ending on a game like that definitely stung.”

Friday’s practice was open to select season-ticket holders. Although the Islanders sit in last place in the Metropolitan Division and 13th place in the Eastern Conference, a large crowd filled the bleachers and cheered the team on.

“It’s fun for the fans to come and see a behind-the-scenes practice day and check out the facility and be up close and personal with the guys. I think it’s important,” Brock Nelson said. “They come and support us each and every night. They’re a big part of our success.”

Near the end of practice, Patrick Roy grabbed a microphone and addressed the fans.

“I just want to say thank you for your support,” he said. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re not happy with the way we’ve been playing in front of you guys. But I will say this to you: We’re gonna keep working extremely hard to make everyone proud.”

The Islanders, who are only 6-8-2 at home, will begin a stretch of three games in four days when they host the Penguins on Saturday night. They will face the Penguins in Pittsburgh on Sunday before visiting the Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

“[These three games] are huge for us just given how the last game went and where we are in the standings,” Nelson said. “You play a divisional opponent, a rival, these are points where you can make up a lot of ground.”

Before Monday’s blowout loss, they put together a 6-3 road win over the Maple Leafs — who are in fourth in the Eastern Conference — a win that Roy and several players referred to as a “blueprint.”

“We’ve shown that when we’re playing our game that we can beat anyone,” Noah Dobson said. “We’ve just got to bring that with consistency and come into games with that confidence and swagger and try to bring that ‘A’ game that we have.”

Notes & quotes: Scott Mayfield, who left Monday’s game after taking a shot to the back of the head, was back at practice Friday . . . With Semyon Varlamov still on long-term IR with a lower-body injury, Ilya Sorokin will start his career-high 12th straight game Saturday .  .  . Marcus Hogberg may be in line for his first start of the season in the next few games. “It’s a plan, but is it gonna happen? I don’t know,” Roy said. “It’s part of the plan to maybe play him one game, but let’s play tomorrow and we’ll see where it goes from there.”