Islanders Fall 5-2 To Flames EAST MEADOW, NY -- New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/new-york-islanders-pierre-engvall-patrick-roy-mathew-barzal] head coach Patrick Roy [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/new-york-islanders-patrick-roy-mathew-barzal-practice-effort-level-calgary-flames] shared immediately after Saturday's 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames why he sat forward Oliver Wahlstrom [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/oliver-wahlstrom-patrick-roy-new-york-islanders-benching] twice for an extended period of time. "I was looking for a goal. [Wahlstrom] didn't have his best game," Roy said. And then the last, what four or five minutes, I tried to double shift Barzal with Pageau and Holmstrom and then after that, Casey [Cizikas] on the wing with them." Benching a player who is playing because of his potential to score goals when you need goals is concerning, but Wahlstrom wasn't going, so Roy did what he had to do for the betterment of the team. This benching decision came a few games after Roy had the opportunity to sit Wahlstrom for the remainder of the third period against the Toronto Maple Leafs last Monday after his interference penalty led to Toronto's tying dagger. But Roy chose not to, citing that the worst thing you can do to a player who makes a mistake is sit him. It was clear that Roy wanted to give Wahlstrom every chance to positively impact the result. But as we saw a few days later, things changed for Roy and Wahlstrom. In the 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, Wahlstrom also sat twice before what transpired against the Flames on Saturday. Through five years in the NHL, Wahlstrom has had a lot to juggle. He's had three different head coaches with three different systems. A mistake, more often than not, has led to benchings and healthy scratches. And this year specifically, Wahlstrom never had the opportunity to find his game after tearing his ACL last December. However, Roy and Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello made it clear that Wahlstrom would get a look and that Roy would work with Wahlstrom. When Roy was asked following Monday's practice about getting Wahlstrom to play how he needs him to, the bench boss honed in on one area of his game, a vital area. "I think, in his case, it has nothing to do with the system. It's the fundamentals," Roy said. "He needs to understand that every night, he needs to play with consistency. And even when I started my career, I was not consistent. So, he'll learn. It's a process, and in his case -- we had two or three one-on-ones with him, and we worked at things -- sometimes he holds the puck a little too long. I'd like him to make quicker decisions. "Sometimes, he could take shots that he passes on. I love how he is willing to learn and just a process. I mean, last game, everybody talked to me about why I made that change. I just needed more offense. I mean, it was not because he was playing bad. Yeah, I mean, when it's 6-2 [like against Tampa Bay], it's a lot more fun. You roll the lines, and you go, and everything is smooth. But we're trailing by two goals or three goals. Sometimes, you have to make decisions, and that's how I base my decisions." Roy is all about communication and realized during his media session that he forgot to tell Wahlstrom something. "I forgot to mention to him this morning. I want him to know that the reason why he sat isn't because he was playing bad," Roy said. "I just sat him because I needed more offense." Regardless of Wahlstrom's play, it appears that he will be in the lineup Tuesday night against the Seattle Kraken. He knows what he has to do to stay in the rotation, and we'll see what the lineup looks like once Hudson Fasching is ready to return. Fasching has been skating on his own but has yet to join his teammates since suffering a lower-body injury against the Montreal Canadiens on Jan. 25. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA0MzAzMzI3NTMzMjEzMTI1/hockey-night-3.jpg] You can watch Rosner talk Islanders hockey on Hockey Night in New York [http://hockeynightny.com/] with co-host Sean Cuthbert [https://twitter.com/seanyhockey] live Sunday nights at 8 PM ET during the season on Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/hockeynightny], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@hockeynightny], Twitter [https://twitter.com/hockeynightny] & Facebook [https://facebook.com/hockeynightny].
