Islanders Improving Under Roy, But Overcoming Major Issue Remains A Work In Progress

Weak decisions provide Roy with a monumental hurdle,

The New York Islanders have only had a few days to grasp Patrick Roy's system. 

After winning his first game behind the Islanders bench Sunday, a 3-2 overtime win against the Dallas Stars where the Islanders weren't perfect but displayed incredible effort, Roy wanted to see his team take strides Tuesday night against the Vegas Golden Knights. 

That they did, as they were better on their breakouts, which allowed them to post a season-high 42 shots and a season-high 19 shots in the middle frame. 

Despite allowing a power-play goal, which came after Ilya Sorokin got caught way out of position on a sharp-angle shot, the Islanders' penalty kill was rather strong for a second straight game, scoring a shorthanded goal in the third period, courtesy of a Jean-Gabriel Pageau snipe from the high slot. 

The Islanders forecheck was impressively better and their structure seemed more compact than it did 48 hours earlier.

"I saw a lot of good things. I mean, great progression from our guys," Roy said. "Our breakouts were much better. I felt like we were working. We were skating harder to pick up pucks. We were willing. We were moving our feet much more than I saw in the previous game. Maybe we should have lost against Dallas, and we should have won tonight, but that's the nature of hockey."

So, why didn't the Islanders fail to come away with two points, losing 3-2 in regulation?

The Islanders did run into a hot goaltender in Adin Hill, who made 40 saves in his first appearance since Dec. 17.

But what proved costly is the same failure that's been their Achilles' heel all season: Poor decision-making. 

On Vegas' opening tally, Sebastian Aho turned the puck over twice before Adam Pelech threw a puck up the middle, leading to a point shot that Ivan Barbashev deflected home.

"We just had a little miscue in our defensive zone coverage," Roy said. "I mean, we should have been a little lower on this, should have facilitated the breakout, and then Pietrangelo took the shot, tipped in front.

"I mean, sometimes those things happen, but I thought that throughout the entire game, we stayed pretty focused, and it's a good sign. Our defensive-zone coverage was much better. We were quick on them, and we found ways to be second quick and get that puck back. We didn't spend too much time in our own zone. I'm not sure if I saw correctly, but I saw something saying that we were less than a minute in our zone in puck possession, and I'll see if it was exactly that, but I mean, that's a good sign for us.

On Vegas' second goal of the game, breaking the 1-1 deadlock, the Golden Knights capitalized after Scott Mayfield took a holding penalty.

The Golden Knights third goal, the eventual game-winning goal, Noah Dobson tried to feed Hudson Fasching across the neutral zone from the Islanders zone, but his pass was picked off, and Sorokin failed to corral the ensuing shot, leading to a tap-in rebound chance for Nicolas Roy:

If you trust that stat sheet (which we do not here at The Hockey News), Dobson led the Islanders with three turnovers in the game. 

"The turnover cost us on the third goal, I got that," Roy said. "But I mean, the kids are young; they're learning, and it's part of the process. So, I think we were better on our breakout overall. I mean, we cut down on our turnovers tonight. Still want to cut down [on them]. 

Roy continued to remain positive despite the loss. 

"I am very positive. I mean, after...I mean, come on," Roy said. "Twenty-seven scoring chances. I mean, what can I say? I mean, sometimes the puck just doesn't go in. 

"We played a good game. And we were just not rewarded with it. And yeah, we have to find a way to put that puck into the net, I agree. But at the same time, it'd be a shame if we have our heads between our legs after a performance like this."

While the Islanders fans want to see improvements and have to be happy that effort and other areas of their games have already taken tremendous strides in just two games under Roy, moral victories are hard to swallow when the franchise finds themselves on the outside looking in, two points back of the second wild-card spot. 

There's no question that the Islanders have the talent not just to sneak into the playoffs but finish as a top team in the Metropolitan Division. 

Contrary to popular belief, they have the ability. That's not the issue.

The issue that Roy needs to navigate is getting the players, specifically the backend members, to play the game in and out to the best of their ability. 

While Dobson had the rare off night -- playing a lot of hockey with all the injuries and likely ready to relax during the 2024 NHL All-Star break -- Roy needs to see others step up and play much cleaner hockey from now on. 

Yes, Adam Pelech missed 20 games due to a wrist injury and had been in and out of the lineup prior, but he's been back for eight games and hasn't looked nearly like the Pelech that was once classified as an elite shutdown defenseman. 

Can Pelech carry a defense pairing anymore, or does he need a player like Ryan Pulock (Long-Term Injured Reserve) by his side? 

Pelech's been playing alongside Mayfield -- who has struggled mightily after inking a seven-year extension this summer -- and Sebastian Aho, who has put Pelech in difficult spots. 

But regardless of who Pelech is playing with or the injury that kept him out for a while, the decision-making needs to be better because when Pelech is on his game, his quick, accurate puck movement becomes critical in the Islanders ability to break out of the defensive zone and limit high-danger chances.

After Tuesday's morning skate, Roy hinted that there would be a rotation of the backend, as Mike Reilly played against Vegas because they didn't want him sitting too long, but that the plan was to have Samuel Bolduc back in the lineup against Montreal. 

Too many defensemen on Tuesday night played as if they wanted to rotate out rather than give Roy reasons to keep them in. 

Roy, who has given his better players more minutes, a new philosophy for New York, can't rely solely on the Alexander Romanov-Dobson pairing every other shift. 

Outside those few turnovers and poor decisions, the Islanders did play a strong game. 

"You've got a really bad turnover right in the middle of the ice that leads to Vegas' first goal, a very uncharacteristic play there. And then, a turnover up the middle in the neutral zone, and that's the third goal," NHL Network's Mike Kelly said on NHL On The Fly. "Other than that, they were good, defensively. They didn't give Vegas a lot. They out-shot them. In terms of offensive process, in terms of expected goals in the game [...] they  expected to score above six goals. 

"That is the best by far of the season. So, they did that in Patrick Roy's second game. Plus, other than those giveaways, they actually played a really good defensive game. That is a phenomenal progression from one game to the next, and the Islanders, like Patrick was saying, play 10 games in a row just like this one, they're winning eight or nine."

The Islanders will practice on Wednesday before flying to Montreal to face the Canadiens on Thursday night at 7 PM ET.