Patrick Roy at the one-year mark: Islanders players still believe

The accolades don’t sync with the record. But, on the one-year anniversary of Patrick Roy taking over as Islanders coach, there’s no doubt his players are still supportive.

“Patrick is a stand-up guy,” Mathew Barzal said before the Islanders faced the Blue Jackets on Monday night at UBS Arena. “He speaks the truth. That has translated within our locker room, guys being honest with each other. His overall mindset that he has about winning and culture, it’s been really beneficial for this group.”

President and general manager Lou Lamoriello hired Roy — the only candidate he interviewed — to replace the fired Lane Lambert on Jan. 20, 2024. The Islanders were 19-15-11 at the time and needed an 8-0-1 finish to take third in the Metropolitan Division before losing in five games in the first round to the Hurricanes.

The Islanders entered Monday’s match in last place in the division at 18-20-7 and eight points behind the Blue Jackets for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot with six teams in between them.

Obviously, that overall mark of 37-35-18 is not what Roy, Lamoriello or the Islanders’ players expected a year later.

“It does not [feel like a year], it feels like it was yesterday,” said Roy, who compiled a 130-92-24 record with the Avalanche from 2013-16 and won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach in 2014. “But I’m thankful for the opportunity and I’ve enjoyed every minute since I’ve been here. It’s a great experience and it’s nice to be part of this organization.

“I wish we had a better record than what we have. But, overall, I’m happy to see the steps we’re making. I feel like we’ve been playing better than our record has shown.”

Roy tried to inject more offense through more aggressive play into the Islanders’ game. Instead, they sat 28th in the 32-team NHL with 121 goals. Their power play and penalty kill are both last in the league. The Islanders have won three straight just once this season.

“I feel good about this coaching staff,” Lamoriello said on Jan. 9 in Las Vegas.

Yet there’s a good chance if the Islanders can’t string together a decent winning streak, Lamoriello must strongly consider being a seller before the March 7 trade deadline with top-six forwards Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri both pending unrestricted free agents.

“A coach coming in mid-year, it’s a bit of a whirlwind those first couple of weeks,” Palmieri said. “But I think we’ve been able to work toward something. The run last year to get us into the playoffs. Here we are a year later kind of in a similar position where we’ve got to find our way back into the playoff picture. As a group, we’re looking forward to that challenge.

“We’re a group that believes in each other.”

Barzal said Roy’s upbeat energy is a big reason for the Islanders’ ironclad belief in themselves, regardless of what their record shows.

“What people may not know is that Patty is super positive and brings a ton of energy,” Barzal said. “Every day is a new day and every day is a day to get better. It doesn’t matter if we’ve won or lost, the next day Patty is coming in with a lot of energy. You see him practice, he’s very vocal and he likes to teach. I think it’s been great.”

Seven days after Roy was hired, Barzal opined the Islanders were “building a blueprint that is going to allow us to become champions.”

Barzal was asked Monday morning whether he still believed that was the case.

“Where we are in the standings isn’t indicative of the culture that Patty has brought here,” Barzal said. “The actual culture that Patty has brought here is unlike [anything] I’ve been a part of. He’s just such an honest guy and he has a ton of belief in everything. He holds everybody accountable.”

Notes & quotes: Hudson Fasching (upper body/injured reserve) missed his sixth game but participated in the Islanders’ optional morning skate wearing an orange, non-contact jersey . . . Matt Martin and defenseman Dennis Cholowski remained healthy scratches while Maxim Tsyplakov served the second of a three-game suspension for his high hit on the Flyers’ Ryan Poehling.