SAN JOSE, Calif. — His team had just lost a crucial, four-point game, but Patrick Roy felt the tides were turning.
It was two weeks ago Saturday, after a fourth loss in five games for the Islanders, 4-2 to the Lightning, and Roy told general manager Lou Lamoriello that the only thing missing was confidence.
“I said, you know what, I like what’s going on,” Roy said Thursday before the Islanders — who have not lost since that date — trounced the Sharks, 7-2. “Sometimes, it’s not just after wins. You could lose a game and feel good about the loss.”
In that particular loss, the Islanders appeared lost for the first 40 minutes, going down 3-0 to the Lightning.
Then Roy switched up the lines, playing Brock Nelson with Bo Horvat and Mathew Barzal, for the third period and the Islanders cut it to 3-2 before Tampa scored into an empty net.
Their playoff chances, at that point, were in critical condition with the Red Wings, Flyers and Lightning all starting to pull away in the standings and the Islanders struggling to keep up.
If the Islanders did not start cobbling together a winning streak soon, their chances of being over the cutline would be kaput by the trade deadline.
But as they got to California with four straight victories in tow, the picture had changed completely.
The Islanders, having kept the line changes from that third period intact, had played some of their best hockey all season.
The Red Wings have lost three in a row and seen center Dylan Larkin go down injured.
The Flyers traded defenseman Sean Walker on Wednesday, following through on management’s vow to stay the course in a rebuild despite their season having gone better than expected.
Even Tampa had lost two of its past three entering Thursday.
“Sometimes it’s just gut feeling,” Roy said. “You saw the way we were playing, the way we had the chances that we had, the little we were giving [up]. A lot is measured about what kind of scoring chances do you have? What kind of scoring chances are you giving up? And the scoring chances we had, I felt like the puck was just bouncing our way or we’re just not as confident as we should [be]. Defensively, it was the same thing. We were thinking a little too much.”
So what — aside from the line combinations — changed between then and an overtime win in Dallas two days later?
“Honestly, I just think we’re all playing together,” Bo Horvat told The Post. “Obviously we’re all getting used to new systems and stuff like that. I think we have all four lines going, too, which is a big thing. Other guys are stepping up at different times.”
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