Islanders coach Patrick Roy's focus on winning mentality is working
Islanders coach Patrick Roy, standing at right, yells to players during the third period of the team's NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks in San Jose, Calif., Thursday, March 7, 2024. Credit: AP/Jeff Chiu
LOS ANGELES – Patrick Roy remembers well those wonderful stretches from his Hall of Fame career as a goalie when his team just knew it would win. It’s that type of confidence he’s working to instill as the Islanders coach.
“Sometimes, be patient and trust what you do,” Roy said before Monday night’s match against the Kings at Cyrpto.com Arena. “It’s almost like you feel you cannot lose. And that’s the feeling you’d like to have as a player. When I was playing either in Montreal or Colorado, there were nights we knew we were going to win even if things were not going our way. And that’s the mindset you’d love to see on the team.”
The Islanders entered Monday, the penultimate stop on a four-game road trip, in that kind of mental zone. Sunday night’s 6-1 victory over the Ducks extended their season-high winning streak to six after the trip opened with a 7-2 win over the Sharks.
Per team statistician Eric Hornick, it was the first time the Islanders had won consecutive road games by at least five goals since March 1988 and the first time the Islanders had scored at least six goals in consecutive road games since March 2003.
The Islanders outscored their previous six opponents 30-11 and Cal Clutterbuck’s third-period goal to cap the scoring against the Ducks meant that all 18 skaters had recorded at least one point in that stretch.
“It’s how we’re built,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “When we have success in the past, up and down the lineup, everyone is contributing. Usually, when we’re getting that, we’re getting the results. Guys have been doing a good job as of late.”
Roy entered Monday’s match 11-5-3 since replacing the fired Lane Lambert on Feb. 20.
The Islanders have lessened the time opponents have played in their zone – 7:37 under Lambert compared to 6:21 under Roy – and increased their time in the offensive zone – 5:38 under Lambert compared to 6:25 under Roy – in statistics compiled by NHL Network’s Mike Kelly. The opponents’ expected goals have decreased from 3.75 to 2.93 since the change behind the bench while the Islanders’ expected goals have risen from 2.89 under Lambert to 3.52.
“Every season is going to have those ups and downs and it feels like you’re shooting yourself in the foot and finding ways to lose games,” Kyle Palmieri said. “These last couple of weeks here, we’re going out and we’re giving ourselves a chance to win.”
Roy has pointed to a 4-2 loss to the Lightning at UBS Arena on Feb. 24 – the game prior to the start of the winning streak – as a turning point with the Islanders playing more confidently with the systematic changes he was making.
But perhaps even more crucial to the Islanders’ turnaround – Sunday’s win put them back into a playoff position for the first time in two months – was the four days of practices Roy conducted from Feb. 14-17.
Other than a shorter session at MetLife Stadium on Feb. 15, Roy directed intense, long practices emphasizing fundamentals.
The payoff wasn’t immediate. The Islanders lost their outdoor Stadium Series game to the rival Rangers 6-5 in overtime on Feb. 18 after blowing a 4-1 lead. Overall, they were 1-2-1 that week, culminating with the loss to the Lightning.
But there was definitely a payoff to the practices.
“The results are different,” Clutterbuck said. “I think it’s a byproduct of we had a refocus there the week before the outdoor game, a bunch of hard practices. It clicked our minds into being prepared and it took a little while to get the results going.”
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.
