Patrick Roy says he has few complaints about NY Islanders play despite struggles

The New York Islanders are a last-place team in the Metropolitan Division 39 games into the season (14-18-7) and currently have the fifth-worst points percentage in the NHL. If that wasn't bad enough, they also have the worst power-play and penalty kill in the league - by a good margin, haven't won three consecutive games all season, and are facing the likelihood of a sell-off at the trade deadline.

Despite all that, head coach Patrick Roy says he doesn't have much to complain about.

"Overall, I wouldn’t change a thing in our game; we’d love to see just better shots, the quality of our shots, that’s all. The guys are working and playing hard," Roy said after the 2-1 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs at UBS Arena, the team's third straight. "I have no complaints other than not scoring goals. If we get those goals, it’ll turn around for us; I still believe in that.”

Unfortunately, scoring goals is what's matters most. We can recall when GM Lou Lamoriello was pressed on the team's lack of scoring, he would always emphasize goal differential. “I’m a goal-differential type of person," the GM said back in 2022. "You win hockey games by scoring more goals, it doesn’t matter how many, it’s differential that allows that to happen."

Well, that isn't happening.

“I have nothing to support what I’m going to say, but we’re playing good hockey," said Roy during the post-game. His latest remarkable attempt at staying positive through an increasingly turbulent season. It's fair to say that parts of the Islanders' game can be categorized as "good hockey," but 60-minute efforts have been hard to come by, and games in which special teams end up in their favor are few and far between.

Roy may beieve that there's nothing to gain from being critical of his team and coaching staff, but we all can see that there's plenty to complain about, and the head coach's inability to find solutions is near the very top of the list.