One month into Patrick Roy's reign, the Islanders are changing their system but still need wins to make playoffs
Islanders head coach Patrick Roy looks on against the Rangers during their Stadium Series game at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
PITTSBURGH — Patrick Roy’s tenure with the Islanders turned one month old on Tuesday and the new coach believes plenty has been accomplished in that time.
But even more work remains.
“My expectation is to make the playoffs,” Roy said before the Islanders opened a two-game road trip against the Penguins at PPG Paints Arena. “That’s the result I would like to see us achieve as a team. I’m pleased with where we’re going with our structure. I’m pleased with where we are on our fundamentals. I’m pleased where we are with our mindset.”
Still, Roy brought just a 3-3-3 mark behind the Islanders’ bench since replacing the fired Lane Lambert on Jan. 20 into Tuesday’s match with the team on an 0-1-2 skid.
That included a lackluster 2-1 shootout loss to the Kraken at UBS Arena on Feb. 13 and Sunday’s crushing 6-5 overtime outdoor loss to the Rangers at MetLife Stadium in which they couldn’t hold a three-goal lead nor a two-goal lead late in the third period.
“I think it’s been solid,” said Mathew Barzal, who brought a seven-game point streak into Tuesday’s match. “He brings a lot of detail and a lot of discipline. I’ve always appreciated that in a coach. Everybody gets similar treatment. There’s no hierarchy or anything. I think the reality is we’ve had some tough losses, unfortunate losses. But I feel like the product, you can see it’s coming.”
“We’ve been playing a lot better hockey,” top-line center Bo Horvat said. “We’d like to see the wins get behind it a little bit more. But, five-on-five, I thought we’ve been really good. We have the puck a lot more, a lot more possession time.”
One month down for Roy and two months left in the regular season, which concludes on April 17.
The question, of course, is whether everything Roy is trying to change with the Islanders will be enough to nudge them back into a playoff position.
The Islanders entered Tuesday fifth in the Metropolitan Division, seven points behind the third-place Flyers, who hold the last guaranteed spot in the division. The Islanders were six points behind the Red Wings for the Eastern Conference’s last wild-card spot with 27 games left after Tuesday.
“It’s going to take some time to get used to,” Horvat said of Roy’s reconstruction work. “But we can’t make that as an excuse all the time right now. We’ve got to get the wins. It’s down to crunch time. We want to make the playoffs and we’ve got to have a big push here at the end.”
“It’s been crunch time for us for a while,” center Casey Cizikas said. “ Overall, we’re playing extremely good hockey. We’re playing connected hockey. We’re playing hard hockey. There’s things we need to clean up. But, overall as a group, we’re confident in how we’re playing right now.”
Roy, however, is not ready to put a timetable on when the Islanders will reach the level of consistency he is seeking.
He cited the Canucks as a positive example of what change can bring. Rick Tocchet replaced the fired Bruce Boudreau on Jan. 22, 2023 and the Canucks missed the playoffs. But they are leading the NHL in points this season.
“We’re still going to have to work at our structure,” Roy said. “Yes, we’re going to continue to work on our fundamentals. And the same thing with our mindset. Tocchet, it took him half of a season in Vancouver to get the team where it is today. I hope I’m not going to have to wait half of a season for this to happen.”
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.
