Islanders Win in Patrick Roy’s Coaching Debut
On Saturday the New York Islanders sent shock waves through the National Hockey League when they announced they were moving on from head coach Lane Lambert and replacing him with Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy. Lambert, who was in just his second season as the Islanders head coach, was fired given the team’s recent struggles which included a four-game losing streak capped off by a loss to the 31st ranked Chicago Blackhawks.
One day later, Patrick Roy was back behind an NHL bench as his New York Islanders took on the Dallas Stars. For those who may not know, Roy is one of the most decorated goaltenders of all time. He ranks third all-time in wins by a goaltender in NHL history. He also won the Stanley Cup four times in his career winning it twice with the Montreal Canadiens and twice with the Colorado Avalanche. To add on, he was voted as the winner of the Vezina Trophy (best goalie in the league) and the Conn Smythe trophy (playoff MVP) three separate times. This was Roy’s first time behind the bench since 2016 when he was the coach of the Colorado Avalanche from 2013-2016. Roy has always been notorious for his constant upbeat energy and enthusiasm toward the game both as a player and as a coach, and he seemed to have given his team a newfound boost of energy as the Islanders jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead just three minutes into the game. The Islanders were able to fight back from a 2-1 deficit in the third period to tie up the game and send it to overtime, where Islanders forward Bo Horvat scored the game-winning goal just 40 seconds into the overtime period. Horvat spoke after the game on what it meant to start out on the right foot for his new coach,
“Everybody wanted to get that win not only for ourselves but for our coach,” Horvat said, per SNY TV. Coach Roy also shared his thoughts after his team’s comeback win. “I was very happy with the resilience of our group… after that second period we were down by one goal, and I said the culture of this team is to be resilient and that's exactly what they did. They were very calm, and I am very happy,” said Roy, per SNY TV.
The Islanders were a playoff team last season where they lost in the first round, and their expectation this year is to get over that hump. Roy looks to be the right man for the job. His constant energy and his preaching of resilience and effort are already on display just one game in. Sunday night’s win put the Islanders at fourth in the metropolitan division and just two points out of a tie for the last Eastern Conference Wild Card spot. Roy’s Islanders will have to build on this momentum as they welcome a very good Vegas Golden Knights team to town on Tuesday.
