Coach Benoit Desrosiers EAST MEADOW, NY -- The New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/benoit-desrosiers-new-york-islanders-assistant-coach-patrick-roy-lou-lamoriello] weren't successful point-wise in their first week under Patrick Roy [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/patrick-roy-new-york-islanders-practice-sunday-all-star-break]. Going 1-2-1 with a new head coach, given how they lost some of those games, could be seen as a complete negative. But given the systematic changes Roy tried making on the fly, there were certainly positives from his first week on the job that should have instilled hope into his players, into upper management, and the fan base as well. Ahead of Sunday's practice, The Hockey News asked Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/lou-lamoriello-new-york-islanders-stan-fischler-new-jersey-devils] what he thought about the team's play under Roy so far. "I thought everything was what we would like to see," Lamoriello said. "I thought the competitiveness level was raised. I thought our defensive coverage was better, and we had a chance to win every game. Then Lamoriello brought up Montreal, where the Islanders found themselves down 3-0 early before tying the game late in the third just to give the lead right back and fall 4-3 in regulation. "It was electrifying," Lamoriello said on the crowd with Roy back in town. "I think it got to everybody. I think the Montreal players benefitted more. Anyway, it's a hockey game. There are no excuses. It is what it is." The Islanders begin their second half of the season against the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night at Scotiabank Arena, sitting six points back of a wild-card spot and FOUR points back of the Philadelphia Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division. Roy used Sunday's practice to focus on tracking as he tries to clean up their defensive mistakes before going head-to-head with elite offensive teams like Toronto before hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday right. 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]. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAzOTk3MzEyMTg2MzI4NjM2/hockey-night-2.jpg]
