There's no question that the New York Islanders needed a head coach like Patrick Roy. But the buzz after the hiring seems to be wearing off as the club is reverting to Lane Lambert hockey.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- There's no question that the New York Islanders needed a head coach like Patrick Roy.
A talented group had gone stale under Lane Lambert, who, over his year and a half behind the Islanders bench, ultimately never got the most out of his team collectively.
Given his tenacity, passion, and fire, Roy's role was to wake up a sleeping team.
Immediately after the coaching change Roy's hiring, the Islanders were buzzing.
The record in Roy's first week wasn't anything to boast about, going 1-2-1, but the way the group was buying into Roy had many believing that a turnaround was indeed possible.
The question would always be just how long the players could match Roy's emotions.
Despite a strong start out of their All-Star break with a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs before a 6-2 routing of the Tampa Bay Lightning, the response from New York has been underwhelming.
A slow start Saturday turned into a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames.
That led to a line change, with Roy wanting more speed on his top line. He elevated Pierre Engvall to the top line with Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, while Anders Lee played alongside Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri.
A slow start Tuesday because a 2-1 shootout loss to the Seattle Kraken where goaltender Ilya Sorokin played hero just to get one point.
Roy also wasted no time, as after seeing Engvall wasn't clicking with his top dogs, he reverted the lines to "normal."
The Islanders' offense had gone cold, and Roy tried to adjust to provide a spark, but the match wouldn't light.
"No one in this dressing room can be pleased with this; we missed that opportunity," Roy said postgame. "There's no excuse for not playing a better hockey game than what we did."
We heard this before under Lambert two many times this season. And we also saw Roy give it to his team at Monday's practice due to compete level.
Lambert and Roy may be very different coaches with very different styles. But, neither is the one who plays the game and now Roy is running into the same problems as his predecessor.
Under Lambert this season, the Islanders went 19-15-11, a .544-point percentage, scoring 2.93 goals per game while allowing 3.36. The power play was positive, operating at 27.8 percent, with the penalty kill the complete opposite at 73 percent.
The Islanders were generating shots on goal, with 29.5, but had allowed 35 per game and won just a tad over 50 percent of their draws (50.4 FO%).
Under Roy, a much shorter sample size, the Islanders have played .500 hockey at 3-3-2, seeing a drop-off in offense with 2.75 goals per game through eight games.
Lee, who kept it positive after Tuesday's loss saying, "We did a really good job of making sure we stuck in this game and got ourselves a point tonight," has no goals in his last nine games.
Nelson has three goals over his last 10 games.
Horvat has one goal over his last five and said after Tuesday's game, "Personally, I have to be better out there. It hasn't been good enough for me, especially tonight."
Defensively, the Islanders have allowed 2.75 goals per game, a vast improvement but at the cost of the offense, clearly.
The power play has come through 22.7 percent of the time (five goals on 22 tries), while the penalty kill has been dreadful at 64.6 percent (14 for 22).
But there's one vital reason the Islanders find themselves on the outside looking in with 29 games to go, and that's their giveaway count.
It was a major issue under Lambert, averaging 8.78 giveaways per 60 minutes. But it's actually been a bigger issue under Roy, with 11.93 giveaways per 60.
When the chances were there under Lambert, the Islanders missed the net 12.9 percent of the time. Under Roy, that number has risen to 15.37 percent.
It's the fundamentals that have led to disaster.
Roy can preach and motivate, but there comes a time when the coach can only do so much, and it's on the players to respond.
The Islanders didn't respond under Lambert, which led to his firing.
Roy isn't going anywhere, which means personnel changes are the likely and only real next step if the Islanders continue down this path.