Islanders take responsibility, say Roy already making impact as new coach

Patrick Roy has made an impact on the New York Islanders, and he hasn’t even coached his first game for them.

That will come Sunday, when the Islanders host the Dallas Stars at UBS Arena (7:30 p.m. ET; MSGSN, BSSW).

But after their practice this morning, his players know what to expect.

“I think obviously, everyone knows who Patrick Roy is,” Islanders captain Anders Lee said, “the career that he’s had, and the intensity that he brings, the passion -- you’ve heard that a bit throughout the past few days -- but that was noticeable from the second he walked in the room and made his presence known.

“We’re all just looking forward here now to moving forward and seeing what we can do.”

Roy was hired Saturday in place of Lane Lambert, who was in his second season. The Islanders (19-15-11) enter Sunday on a four-game skid (0-3-1) and two points out of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

Roy said tightening up the defense is the top priority. The Islanders are allowing 3.36 goals per game, 24th in the NHL.

“I’m going to say a cliche here, but defense wins championships, doesn’t it?” Roy said. “So we're going to start worrying about our defense.”

This is Roy’s second coaching stint in the NHL. He coached the Colorado Avalanche for three seasons (2013-16) before resigning Aug. 11, 2016. The 58-year-old was 130-92-24 in 246 regular-season games and 3-4 in seven playoff games.

He got his second chance to coach because the Islanders have struggled this season, and the players took responsibility for their play under Lambert.

“We’re just as accountable as Lane," Lee said. "We’re the ones that go out there and play the game, and we’ve come up short on our end of the bargain in that regard. So, it’s on us to take this opportunity and go with it, and so, that responsibility is absolutely shared.”

Islanders All-Star Mathew Barzal agreed, saying the players are ultimately why Lambert is out of a job.

“I think anytime a coach gets fired, it’s not so much a reflection on him, but if we had won our last eight of 10 games, who knows where we’d be right now?” Barzal said. “We take a lot of responsibility in this room for that happening. We didn’t play well the last four games [...] at the end of the day, we’re the ones on the ice playing the game, and we didn’t play well enough, we didn’t score and, ultimately, cost Lane his job.”

Roy is the organization’s first outside voice since Barry Trotz became coach in 2018, with Lambert a part of his staff before being promoted to head coach ahead of the 2021-22 season.

Roy’s demeanor and voice are welcomed and were evident from his first skate.

“Obviously, it was a crazy day yesterday. We got back from the road trip, and the changes, but I think everyone’s excited,” defenseman Noah Dobson said. “Patrick obviously brings that presence, brings a lot of passion and energy, as you saw this morning, so it’s good.

“The way we’ve been playing lately, we needed a wake-up call, so to say. A lot of things going on, habits, and details in our game that have gotten loose are unacceptable, and we’re all aware of that now. We know as a group we need to be a lot better, and I’m sure the group itself will have a good response.”

Bo Horvat remembers what it was like to play against Roy’s Avalanche team when he was a member of the Vancouver Canucks.

“They play with a lot of passion. They’re kind of all over you,” Horvat said. “They’re hard to play against, and I think that’s kind of what he wants us to be. They play together as a team, and for us to be successful going forward, we’ve got to all pull on the same rope. There can’t just be one guy going. Everybody has to contribute, and I think that was his main message today.

“I think [the coaching change] is a testament to (general manager) Lou (Lamoriello) that he wants more, and it’s up to us to give him more. Obviously, this gives us an extra jolt to get us where we need to be, but it’s on us to be better as a whole, as a group, and it starts tonight.”

Roy is a Hockey Hall of Fame goalie whose 551 wins in 19 seasons are third in NHL history behind Martin Brodeur (691) and Marc-Andre Fleury (552), and his 1,029 games are third behind Brodeur (1,266) and Roberto Luongo (1,044). His 151 wins and 247 games in the playoffs each rank first, and his 23 shutouts are second to Brodeur (24). His 478 games played, 262 wins and 37 shutouts are each the most by an Avalanche goalie.

Roy won the Stanley Cup four times with the Canadiens (1986, 1993) and Avalanche (1996, 2001), the Vezina Trophy voted voted as the best goalie in the NHL three times (1988-89, 1989-90, 1991-92) and the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs in 1986, 1993 and 2001, the only player in NHL history to win the award three times.

“I'm very excited about it," Roy said. "I love the challenge, and I'm really thankful for the opportunity to be here. So yes, I mean, I would love to bring my passion to the team and bring some excitement and kind of use, I would say, my past experience as a player and maybe as a coach to help this group of players.”