Roy tells Isles fans at practice team is working hard to make them proud

Perhaps the NHL’s three-game holiday pause came at the perfect time for Bo Horvat and the Islanders.

Horvat wore his frustration on his sleeve following Monday’s 7-1 loss to the Sabres at UBS Arena. For the last three days, he and his teammates had to sit with those emotions as they awaited Friday morning’s practice at Northwell Health Ice Center.

“It adds more fuel to the fire,” Horvat said after Friday’s practice. “You definitely didn’t enjoy your break as much as you wanted to. Ending on a game like that definitely stung.”

Friday’s practice was open to select season ticket holders. Despite the Islanders sitting in last place in the Metropolitan Division and 13th place in the Eastern Conference, a large crowd of fans filled in the bleachers and cheered the team on.

“It’s fun for the fans to come and see a behind-the-scenes practice day and check out the facility and be up close and personal with the guys. I think it’s important,” Brock Nelson said. “They come and support us each and every night. They’re a big part of our success.”

Near the end of practice, Patrick Roy grabbed a microphone and addressed the fans.

“I just want to say thank you for your support,” Roy said to the fans. “Don’t get me wrong, we’re not happy with the way we’ve been playing in front of you guys. But I will say this to you: we’re gonna keep working extremely hard to make everyone proud.”

The Islanders begin a stretch of three games in four days when they host the Penguins Saturday at 7:30 p.m. They head to Pittsburgh on Sunday before visiting the Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

“[These three games] are huge for us just given how the last game went and where we are in the standings,” Nelson said. “You play a divisional opponent, a rival, these are points where you can make up a lot of ground.”

If the Islanders are going to turn the season around, the push must start this weekend, ideally on Saturday at home, where they have struggled to a 6-8-2 record. Prior to Monday’s blowout, the Islanders put together a 6-3 road win against the Maple Leafs – who are in fourth in the Eastern Conference – a win that Roy and several players referred to as a “blueprint.”

“We’ve shown that when we’re playing our game that we can beat anyone,” Noah Dobson said. “We’ve just got to bring that with consistency and come into games with that confidence and swagger and try to bring that ‘A ‘ game that we have.”

Notes and quotes: Scott Mayfield, who left Monday’s game after taking a shot to the back of the head, was back at practice on Friday. … With Semyon Varlamov still on LTIR with a lower body injury, Ilya Sorokin will start his career-high 12th straight game on Saturday. … Marcus Hogberg may be in line for his first start of the season in the next few games. “It’s a plan, but is it gonna happen? I don’t know,” Roy said. “It’s part of the plan to maybe play him one game, but let’s play tomorrow and we’ll see where it goes from there.”