Islanders' Patrick Roy wants his team to play with confidence down the stretch
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy talks to his team during a timeout in the third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning at UBS Arena on Saturday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
DALLAS — Up to 19 Islanders formed a circle trying to keep a soccer ball in the air as long as possible. The standard pregame warmup came in lieu of a morning skate at American Airlines Center, and the players filled the corridor outside the visitor’s dressing room with laughter.
Nearby, Patrick Roy addressed the media before his team tried to snap a two-game losing streak against the Stars on Monday night. The coach was asked what he made of his team’s upbeat mood despite falling to the fringe of the playoff chase.
“I think you need to be positive,” Roy said. “There’s a lot of hockey left. The key is how you go every night on the ice and believe. These guys believe in themselves. I don’t want to put Band-Aids on things. I want us to play the right way and I’m sure they feel that. I’m sure they feel they’re playing better and better. Unfortunately, the results are not what we want.”
The Islanders entered Monday’s game having dropped to seventh in the Metropolitan Division, with three teams and seven points separating them from the third-place Flyers, who held the last guaranteed playoff spot in the division. In the wild-card race, the Islanders were nine points out of the final spot with three teams in front of them.
“You can’t sit there and pout,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “It’s a new day and you’ve got to try and embrace that.”
A 4-0 loss in St. Louis on Thursday and Saturday’s 4-2 defeat at UBS Arena to the Lightning, who entered Monday as the second wild-card, seriously damaged the Islanders’ playoff chances. MoneyPuck.com (NHL analytically-based website) listed the Islanders with a 5.7% chance to qualify for the postseason.
“I know the standings but I don’t look at it too much because the urgency is winning a hockey game and then build on that,” Roy said. “And then hopefully win a second hockey game.”
The Islanders have won consecutive games just once since Dec. 13, and they entered Monday with just five regulation wins in their previous 25 games.
Time is running out.
“Yeah, the time might play against us,” Roy said. “But I’d rather not think that way. I’d rather think one day at a time.
“I think our guys are doing a really good job playing the way they’ve been playing and now it’s just finding ways. I do believe if we had more confidence against Tampa or St. Louis, we would have won those games. It’s just a matter for them to trust what they do and believe in themselves and go out there and play with confidence."
The Blues scored three goals in the second period in a franchise-record 32 seconds. The Lightning scored two first-period goals within 82 seconds.
“Sometimes when you’re going through a stretch like this and the puck is not going in the back of the net as easy, just naturally your confidence gets shot down a little bit," Mathew Barzal said. "When you’re on a 10-game heater and everyone is scoring, your confidence is sky high.”
Barzal said confidence and how to regain it was a topic of a team meeting.
“We’ve got to play a little more instinctively,” Barzal said. “Just go out there and play and have fun and enjoy it. Because it’s a fun moment as much as it stinks to be in the position we’re in right now. We wish we had 10 more points. We’re absolutely in the grind. Every game is so crucial right now and that’s the fun part of being in the NHL.”
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.
