Islanders' Roy Has His Team Playing The Right Way

When the New York Islanders fired Lane Lambert in the middle of the 2023-24 season and hired Patrick Roy to replace him, everyone knew that the Islanders meant business.

In Roy, the Islanders hired someone who had success coaching in both juniors and the NHL, was one of the greatest goaltenders of all-time, and is someone who has a burning passion for the game. The Islanders were hoping that by hiring Roy, he could help restore the team to its winning ways.

That season, Roy helped the team get back on track and got them into the Stanley Cup playoffs. Yes, the Carolina Hurricanes knocked them out in the first round, but the run to the postseason was fun to watch and helped to provide hope to the team's fan base.

Last season was a tough one for the Islanders. They missed the playoffs, got inconsistent play up and down the lineup, their franchise goaltender, Ilya Sorokin, struggled mightily, and they looked disjointed on a nightly basis.

Fast forward to this season and things have changed in a big way. With a new general manager in Mathieu Darche and a strong relationship between Darche and Roy, the Islanders have found a way to have a lot of success so far this season.

As of this writing (Tuesday, January 20), the team is second in the Metropolitan Division, fifth in the Eastern Conference, and ninth in the NHL with a record of 27-17-5 for 59 points. While the players obviously deserve a lot of the credit for what has transpired so far this season, some credit needs to be given to Roy.

For starters, Roy has his team playing more freely on offense. This means that they have been able to be more creative, have had a lot of odd-man rushes, have used their speed well, and have scored timely goals.

Speaking of being creative, Roy made the right choice in keeping Schaefer up with the big club. Schaefer, 18, has been one of the team's best players as he is currently second on the team in scoring with 34 points on 13 goals and 21 assists.

Roy has allowed Schaefer to make mistakes, and has then showed him how to make the right plays. He has worked well with this youngster all season long and it is paying dividends as we get closer to February.

Another big reason that the Islanders are playing well is because Roy is showing Sorokin, 30, that he has a lot of confidence in him. When Sorokin was struggling early on in the season, Roy stayed out on the ice with him after practice to work on a few things.

It appears that Roy's faith helped as Sorokin is currently 16-11-0-2 with a 2.49 goals-against average, a .915 save percentage, and five shutouts. Based on those numbers, it looks like Sorokin is back to being the elite goaltender that he was three seasons ago.

Lastly, the players have shown that they believe in what Roy is teaching and preaching day in and day out. Mathew Barzal spoke to Rachel Luscher of the team's website and said that he and the team feel confident with Roy at the helm.

From the first minute he was here, we felt confident with him, he's brought great energy," Mathew Barzal said. “He’s got a lot of experience in the playoffs and with winning. We’ve really enjoyed learning from him, hearing what he has to say and his approach to the game.

Barzal's teammate, Simon Holmstrom, explained to Luscher that it feels like Roy has been with the Islanders for a lot longer than just two seasons and that he admires Roy's passion for wanting to win.

It feels like we've had him for more than two years," Simon Holmstrom said. "He really puts his own touch on this team and this organization. He's got a lot of passion, a lot of fire. It's good to see what your coach really wants to win, just as much as the team.

Patrick Roy and the Islanders have a great thing going right now. There is no reason to believe that it will not continue based on the way they have played this season.