Islanders’ Patrick Roy hits Pierre Engvall with harsh reality check amid intriguing decision

New York Islanders coach Patrick Roy is having a tough time of it lately.

The Islanders’ leader is frustrated with how his team played in a 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, which was followed by a 5-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Sunday and a 4-1 beating at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday night.

Roy decided not to play Islanders left wing Pierre Engvall on Tuesday. He explained his reasoning, per Stefen Rosner of NHL.com:

“I wasn’t too happy about his play lately. Sometimes you just have a night off, watching the game from upstairs and he’ll probably be back in the lineup against Detroit. Sometimes, it’s something that someone needs. I saw that with other teams. I mean, Couturier was out, scratched in Philadelphia and he’s the captain of their team.”

The Islanders coach continued, “I mean, Pierre needs to understand that we need him. We need him to play a certain way. I mean, I know he’s not an overly physical player. But he’s capable of giving us a lot more than what he’d been doing.”

On the season, Engvall has scored eight goals and tallied 13 assists in 61 games for the Islanders this season.

New York is now exasperated and in danger of losing a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The team is now 29-24-15 on the season following the loss. It was a game the team needed badly.

The Islanders has been outscored by a total of 20-6 over what is now a five-game losing streak.