Patrick Roy striving to remain positive amid NY Islanders sustained struggles

“What good is it going to do for us if I’m always focusing only on the result?”

That was one of the reflections from New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy in the aftermath of the team's 6-3 loss to the Boston Bruins at UBS Arena that dropped the team to 8-10-5 on this season, with only four regulation wins and the sixth worst points percentage in the NHL.

Through a challenging 23 games, a first quarter of the season where the Isles have been without three of their most important players in Mathew Barzal, Anthony Duclair and Adam Pelech, Roy has done his best to focus on the positives after each and every game, after each and every blown third period lead or 2 goal or less performance.

There have been positives. The team is in almost every single game, having entered the third period tied or ahead in 17 of the 23 games. They have defensively much more structured than they were last season, allowing fewer high-danger chances. They are not taking nearly as many penalties, which helps their poor penalty-kill, and they are the best face-off team in the league.

Nevertheless, those positives haven't led to nearly enough positive results. The Islanders were a borderline playoff team in the minds of most before the injuries mounted. They needed to stay afloat at a certain level through the calendar year to put themselves in a strong position to make a third straight late-season push to the post-season. They haven't done enough to date, but Roy still believes there's time to turn things around.

“It’s a long season,” he reiterated. “How many times we said last season, ‘Oh, the Islanders are not gonna make the playoffs, oh the Islanders lost that big game, they lost that big game, that big game?’ We know we gotta stay close to that .500 mark when all the guys gonna be back and that’s what we’re trying to do. But we piss away some games that we could win.”

Those lost opportunities make a tough task even tougher, even after they get their full compliment of reinforcements back. There may be only one playoff spot up for grabs in the Eastern Conference and the Islanders have not only given away points in recent weeks, but done it against teams they'll be battling for the final post-season berths.

Roy's positivity is a good trait, but it's coming across to the fanbase as minimizing the shortcomings of this roster now, and how it will look at full strength. At some point, Roy needs to acknowledge the challenges this team is facing publicly and with his group. The opposite isn't working and the fans have lost patience waiting for things to turn around and break their way.