Roy on How the Islanders Can Stop This Trend

“Our forecheck wasn’t up to par and our possession offensively wasn’t strong,” noted Islanders head coach Patrick Roy. “Their chances were numerous.” “Ilya made some amazing saves, and in the third we played hard and well; unfortunately we conceded a goal off our skate that ended up going in. Unfortunately that’s just bad luck – no matter how often we say that.” “That is simply fate taking its course – bad luck happens no matter who wins or loses; sometimes these things just happen that way. ” “This marked the third time this season that the Islanders led in a game but lost, and fifth time out of 15 where they gave away leads at some point.The empty net goal marked their third 5-on-6 goal allowed this year – second most among NHL clubs (two against Devils; another came against Buffalo Sabres in 4-3 regulation win)]. How will this prolonged trend end for them?” “Firstly, confidence must return,” Roy noted. “Secondly, our defense around our net needs to improve; their pick-up of rebound pucks must stop so we must find ways to box them out or put our hands on those pucks so as to do a more complete job of stopping those chances from occurring. We simply can’t afford to throw pucks away.” “”We cannot throw pucks away.”” “Our job was to eat pucks and kill the clock as fast as we could; when they pulled their goalie it triggered an additional clock (about 1:06, or 10 I think); so, killing off time became our ultimate objective.” Don’t lose the puck; consume it instead if there is no play available to you – these are important lessons I hope we learn through experience to build our confidence as players and as teams. Roy went on to say:”I’ve observed many teams; those which succeed are usually ones which excel in battles, swarming well and finding ways to consume pucks through battles or get pucks out quickly for rebound battles – that is how goals are scored! One could tell from speaking with players postgame that this particular blown lead and loss hit players harder than usual. “I am pleased with our response in both halves – from first half through to second and third,” Islanders forward Casey Cizikas noted afterward. “After an excellent first half, our play improved significantly; but one goal stings. Really wish there could have been two here. Roy stated. Rather, “it is up to each individual team member to find ways of handling such situations themselves and find strategies.” “There was a little of everything here; as I stated previously, repeating myself: at the end of the day it comes down to making sure…Hutton had the puck against the wall when two opponents from opposite teams attacked; Hutton should have just eaten it when there were only three guys on his team instead; instead he decided to play along.” So these are things we will watch closely and work on together; over time I know we will become better. Roy training camp had promised the Isles success at holding onto leads – losing just seven out of 23 games where they held leads since his replacement of Lane Lambert on Jan 19 according to MSGSN statistician Eric Hornick – but unfortunately that trend persists and must end if they want consistent NHL success.”