New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy stands behind the bench during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024, in Elmont, N.Y. (AP Photo/John Munson)
ELMONT, N.Y. — Nine days ago, Patrick Roy was coaching junior hockey in Quebec. Now, he’s heading into the NHL All-Star break as head coach of the New York Islanders having already played three of the best teams in hockey.
“It was a pretty nice welcome,” Roy said with a grin following his team’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday night at UBS Arena. “We played [the Dallas Stars] who are one of the premier teams [in the Western Conference], we played [the Vegas Golden Knights] who won the Stanley Cup last year and we played the Stanley Cup finalists in Florida.”
Islanders salvage point late but fall 3-2 in OT to Panthers
Over his first four games as Islanders head coach, Roy has collected three of a possible eight points, losing three of those first four games, but dropping each of those results by just a single goal. All the while, he’s been attempting to institute a new system on the fly preaching more aggressive, attacking hockey while maintaining a structure that has long alluded the team this year — ultimately resulting in the firing of Lane Lambert.
Early returns have been generally positive. While turnovers and penalties are still in need of being ironed out, shots are up. They’ve averaged 34.75 shots per game since Roy’s arrival compared to the 29.5 per night under Lambert this season. Defensemen are invited to join the attack and defensive zone exits are becoming more intricate to spark meaningful transitional play.
And they’ve been doing this against some of the NHL’s best teams.
“That’s what you want,” Roy said. “You want to be measuring against top teams and you want to see if what you’re doing works. Quite honestly, I know what we’re doing works and I hope the players feel the…
Read the full article here