The NY Islanders are already showing improvement under Patrick Roy despite last night's loss
There have for sure been games the NY Islanders have left with two points in their pocket that they didn't necessarily deserve - Sunday night against the Dallas Stars being an example.
Last night though, was a game they deserved to win but walked away empty handed.
According to MoneyPuck, after 723 game simulations from last night, the Islanders walk away with both points 81.2% of the time.
Costly turnovers and goaltending were the difference, as mistakes by the Islanders led to all three Vegas Golden Knights goals, while Adin Hill was a wall between the pipes, stopping 40 of 42 shots on goal.
Despite last night's outcome, Patrick Roy was mostly happy with what he saw of his players in only his second game in charge.
โSometimes the hockey gods are not on your side and today that was the case,โ Roy said." I saw a lot of good things. I mean, great progression from our guys. Our breakouts were much better. It felt like we were working, we were skating harder to pick up pucks, we were moving our feet much more than I saw in the previous game."
According to MoneyPuck, the Isles finished the night with 4.5 expected goals to Vegas' 1.6 while doubling the Knights' offensive possession time.
Happy with his team's performance of the night, Roy hopes this isn't a one-off and wants to see this Islanders team show up to the rink every night.
"What I want is some consistency," Roy said postgame. "I always believe in the even-keel group. You win, you lose, you refocus on the next game. And I think that's what we need to do. When I met with the guys this morning, I said, 'I hope we're not satisfied with our performance against Dallas.' We could have been better, but tonight, I like what I've seen."
The Isles look to repeat their performance tomorrow night against the Montreal Canadiens in what will surely be a circus with Roy returning to his hometown team.