Islanders Patrick Roy Concerned With Level Of 'Hunger' & 'Intensity' Against Ottawa As Wild-Card Deficit Widens

The Islanders blew a glorious opportunity on Tuesday night, as Ottawa seemed to just want it more.

ELMONT, NY -- The New York Islanders should have been starving for another win when they hosted the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night for the first game of a seven-game homestand. 

For the first time this season, the Islanders were owners of a three-game winning streak, playing the best brand of hockey we've seen from them this season after knocking off the Boston Bruins, Vegas Golden Knights, and Utah Hockey Club to remain relevant in the wild-card race. 

I guess they lost their appetite a bit. 

In a game where there was not a lot of time and space, the Islanders failed to play hungry enough, falling 2-0 to the Senators to see their streak die at three games.

With the second wild-card Columbus Blue Jackets beating the Philadelphia Flyers, the Islanders' next opponent, 3-2 in a shootout, the Islanders woke up on Wednesday seven points out of a wild-card spot with a game in hand. 

Listen, it's not easy to return home from a western road trip. 

It's also not easy playing three games in four nights, which was Ottawa's situation. 

"It's the time change. Obviously, it's hard to adjust to the two hours, three hours," Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said when asked about the challenges of returning from a road trip, especially out west. "But at the same time, there's no excuse. We have to respond to this. I mean, the position we were in, winning three in a row, we had a chance to go for four in a row. I think we should have been more hungry. 

"We should have had more urgency than what we did. Sometimes, you have to dig those ones, and for some reason, we did not."

It sounded like a parent saying, "I'm not mad. I'm disappointed."

The Hockey News spoke with Bo Horvat on Monday about their turnaround, prior to Tuesday's game. He and most of the players thought they had turned the page as a team. 

“We all knew where we were at in the standings, where we're at as a team, and we knew we had to be better," Horvat said. "There's not much that needs to be said in this room. We have a bunch of veteran guys that have won and have been in this situation before, where we fight for a playoff spot, and I just think we all recognize where we're at, and we're just going with it.”

The game against Ottawa wasn't an easy one at all, with the difference being the little things. 

"In these types of games, details and puck battles are really going to matter," Senators head coach Travis Green said. "Every inch of the ice is important, and I know that we had buy-in from everyone.”

The Islanders knew the importance of that as well, per team captain Anders Lee. 

"There wasn’t a ton in the game,” Lee said. “It was one of those night where I don’t think we did a ton wrong. We didn’t do enough special to break through and put one in. It felt like a choppy game. We tried to push through and play a little simpler in the third. That’s how we tried to play the whole game, but we just couldn’t create enough.”

It's an unfortunate result, especially back on home ice, where the team falls to 7-10-2 in front of their home crowd.

No, the season is not over, and the Islanders have six more home games to inch closer to a wild-card spot. 

But if they want to make the playoffs, that hunger and intensity that Roy talked about can't be underwhelming, especially against teams they are trying to catch.