HC Patrick Roy doesn't mince his words about NY Islanders' lack of mental strength after 3-2 loss to Penguins

The New York Islanders turned in another disappointing outing as they went down 3-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Coach Patrick Roy was particularly distraught with how his team handled pressure.

The Pens carried a 1-0 lead into the second period. Michael Bunting scored off Sidney Crosby's assist. It was No. 87's 1,034th career assist making him the all-time Penguins leader. The Islanders couldn't pick themselves up from the power play goal. Instead, they gave up a third goal much to Roy's dismay.

In the post-game interviews, Roy spoke about the team's mentality of giving up too easily. He said coming back from a two-goal is doable under any circumstances and the Islanders proved it as well by scoring twice in the third. But a third goal was too much for them.

“I just felt that, after we gave up that second goal, we were not mentally strong enough. I mean, we have to,” the coach said. “It’s just a goal. I mean, we were down two. In this league, two goals, it’s nothing. We prove it. With seven minutes, we pull the goalie, we score, five minutes, we score another one.

"You could come back in those games. And sometimes, I feel we don’t believe enough in that."

Kyle Maclean takes ownership of third period goal that cost Islanders

Throughout the season, Patrick Roy has been annoyed by the team's weak penalty kill. In the third period, the Penguins were once again completely outmatched. After the second goal, the Isles failed to capitalize on two power plays of their own before Kyle Maclean committed a cheap penalty in the third.

The Pens took possession of the puck for the entirety of the minor penalty. Towards the end of the power play, Philip Tomasino's shot was deflected into the net by Alexander Romanov. Speaking to NYI Hockey Now, Maclean took responsibility for the mistake.

“That’s something I can’t do, and it cost us, so I’m not happy that I did that. It’s my responsibility not to take a penalty like that," he said.

There were some positives for the Isles as goalie Marcus Hogberg, playing in the NHL for the first time since 2021, made 38 saves. Anders Lee kept the fight going scoring two at the end.

The Islanders (14-16-7) are well off playoff contention as the halfway mark of the season approaches.