Under Patrick Roy, the New York Islanders are no longer going with the shell method up in games.
ELMONT, NY -- The New York Islanders won their fourth straight game on Tuesday night, defeating the St. Louis Blues 4-2 at UBS Arena.
It was a come-from-behind victory, where Patrick Roy's squad erased a 2-0 deficit in the second period before getting the lead 55 seconds into the third period.
Under Barry Trotz and Lane Lambert, the Islanders would likely have gone into a shell in hopes of preserving their slim one-goal lead.
Although the Islanders were held to six shots in the third period, allowing eight, they never sat back against St. Louis.
"There's no way we're gonna sit on the lead. Ain't no way," Roy said. "On every team that I played for, we never sat on it. We found ways to continue to play the same way, and that's the first thing I was saying on the bench. Let's get to the next one. You want that next one.
"Sitting doesn't serve you very well. I was happy that we were capable of holding onto that lead and continued to play the same way. I said to the guys, team's are gonna have to press on us and take chances and this is where we're gonna benefit out of this. The more we're going to be in those positions, those situation and that position, I think we're gonna get better and better and I think one thing that grows right now it's our confidence. Confidence is a big thing in this game. And I think if we continue to grow confidence, we're going to be even better and better."
In the final minute of the third, Roy had his top line on the ice while the Blues were pressing up a man with their goaltender on the bench.
This late-game decision was not common under Lambert, as the bottom six defensive lines were usually tasked with shelling up and locking down the lead.
Except, locking down leads was rare in the first part of the season, the primary reason the Islanders aren't sitting comfortably in a playoff spot right now.
It turns out that having speed on the ice late in games is extremely beneficial, as Mathew Barzal got on a breakaway and scored on the empty cage to give the Islanders a 4-2 lead with 30 seconds remaining.
It was just the Islanders' second empty-net goal of the season after Pierre Engvall scored their first on Feb. 29 in a 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings.
"I was surprised to hear that [Engvall's] was the first empty-net goal," Roy said. But if you do a good job, if you play well, and you swarm correctly, good things will happen. And that's exactly what happened on that one. I mean, great job again. I think it was Bo in the corner who gave it to Barzal, and we were gone for an empty."
Per Eric Hornick, that was Barzal's second career empty-net goal which tells you that he wasn't used often when defending a lead late.
The Islanders' last two situations when facing an empty net, they've outshot their opponents 2-0 and have two empty-net goals.
Even throughout most of that third period prior to the empty-net situation, the Islanders continued to play their game, getting in on the forecheck and working in the offensive zone.
"I really think we were just playing fast," Kyle Palmieri said. "Getting the puck up and getting north, I think we did a good job forechecking and holding on to the puck in the offensive zone.
"And when you do that, it's a lot easier to play with the lead than being hemmed in. Obviously, they're going to have a push at the end of the game, being down a goal. But we're just happy with the way we played, and we'll just try and build on that for the next game."
It's a new mindset that we're seeing from this group late in games with the lead than what we saw early in the season.
It may have taken Roy a bit of time to get his players switching to a different mindset after five years but now, we are seeing the changes pay off as the Islanders continue to inch close and closer to a playoff spot.