Islanders coach Patrick Roy upbeat despite disastrous Stadium Series loss to Rangers in OT

Patrick Roy had every right to be upset. Instead, he tried to remain upbeat.

The Islanders went ahead by three goals early in the second period and led by two goals late in the third but lost to the Rangers in overtime, 6-5, on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

This after the coach — hired on Jan. 20 and now 3-3-3 with the Islanders — put the team through an intensive four days of practice after Tuesday night’s 2-1 shootout loss to the Kraken at UBS Arena. Roy is trying to break their old playing habits while increasing their compete level.

“As a coach, because I’m not a player, I feel good about our game,” he said. “Yes, those penalties at the end hurt us, but we did a lot of good things. When I look at the five-on-five, that’s the hockey we want to play. I thought we had a very good game. We played them with a good pace. We competed well. We had our chances. To me, it’s a very positive game for us. Calls didn’t go our way.”

Different venues

Brock Nelson is one of four Islanders, along with fourth-liners Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck, who have played in both of the franchise’s outdoor games, the first a 2-1 loss to the Rangers at Yankee Stadium on Jan. 29, 2014.

Nelson, who scored in both games, said playing in football and baseball stadiums are not the same. “It was awesome,” he said of Sunday’s game. “Unbelievable atmosphere. Rowdy crowd. Great energy. Great setup. Quite a bit different from the one we had at Yankee Stadium. Still electric. Something that you’ll remember forever, such a unique environment in terms of a hockey game.”

The Islanders used the Giants’  locker room at MetLife Stadium.

Isles files

Mathew Barzal extended his point streak to seven games with his first-period power-play goal.  . . . Kyle Palmieri had his point streak snapped at six games . . . The Islanders won 45 of 66 faceoffs (68%). Bo Horvat was 16-for-19 (84%), Jean-Gabriel Pageau 10-for-12 (83%) and Cizikas 12-for-15 (80%) . . . The Islanders played in their NHL-high 20th game that went past regulation. They fell to 6-14 in those games . . .  D Samuel Bolduc and Sebastian Aho and F Hudson Fasching did not dress.  Fasching missed the previous five games with a lower-body injury, but Roy said all of his players were available for Sunday’s game … Left wing Anders Lee, who scored on the power play early in the second period, has six goals in seven career games against Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.