Islanders trying to stay positive as points continue to slip away
It's not what Islanders fans wanted to hear not long after another loss, but Patrick Roy is staying the course with his positivity hoping that, at some point, the Islanders can get things going in the right direction.
"I have nothing to support what I'm going to say but we're playing good hockey," said the Islanders head coach after a 2-1 loss to the Maple Leafs Thursday night at UBS Arena. "We limited chances. We had some chances. I think we just need to get better shots on net. The quality of our shots needs to be better but overall, I wouldn't change nothing."
Well, the one thing that has to change would be the results of the games.
The Islanders have now lost three straight games in regulation and they've fallen four games under NHL .500 to 14-18-7 tied with the Rangers for last place in the Metropolitan Division.
In getting swept by Toronto in the home-and-home series, the Islanders put together two good efforts, but they are in the midst of an offensive drought and it's hard to win when you can't score goals.
"We've put a couple together here coming away with zero points," said Captain Anders Lee who had a potential game-tying goal in the final seconds waved off because of what Roy called "a quick whistle".
"We just gotta stick with it," said Lee. "We did a lot of good things so let's build off of that."
That building will have to come during a three-game road trip that commences on Sunday in Boston with stops in Las Vegas and Utah next week before the Islanders return home on January 14th to face Ottawa.
The positivity message remains the rallying cry, but the Islanders continue to let points slip away.
"There's definitely some good things that we're doing but we gotta find the back of the net," said defenseman Scott Mayfield. "In this league, it's about getting points. You can take the good things but at the end, its two points left out there and we gotta find a way to win games."
There are no style points when you look at the NHL standings. It's pretty cut and dry with wins, losses and the loser points for overtime and shootout defeats. For the Islanders, the company line of "playing good hockey" is getting stale.
Islanders Country could really use an ugly win instead of playing well in defeat.
"I think right now I'd take a horrible game out of our team to win a hockey game," said forward Mat Barzal. "That's really the only thing that matters right now are wins and losses. We are playing good hockey but just hard getting (the puck) over the line."
As the losses mount, the frustration grows among the fan base, but the players continue to try and remain focused on changing the team's fortunes.
The Islanders are not even close to throwing in the towel. Their upbeat persona is reflection of their coach.
"(Thursday was the) 11th time we lose a game when we give up two goals or less," said Roy. "The guys are working hard. The guys are playing hard. I have no complaints other than not scoring goals. If we can get those goals, I think it's going to turn around for us. I still believe in that. There's a fine line between winning and losing and right now we're on the wrong end."
As the losses pile up and the points slip away, the Islanders are quickly running out of time to get things right before decisions have to be made. If things don't get better soon, it may finally be time to start breaking up the core of a team that enjoyed playoff success just a few years ago.
