Patrick Roy didn’t wait for the wheels to come off. He saw the warning signs and hit the brakes himself.
With the New York Islanders trailing 2-0 heading into the third period against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon, Roy made a bold call - one that spoke louder than any postgame quote or practice skate ever could. He benched his entire second line - captain Anders Lee, Mathew Barzal, and Anthony Duclair - for the remainder of the game after a brutal breakdown on a late-period goal by Buffalo’s Tage Thompson.
The Islanders would go on to lose 5-0 at UBS Arena, but the scoreboard wasn’t the story. The message was.
“It’s pretty simple: Back-checking is an important part of our game and our concept,” Roy said afterward. “We talked about it on the road, and it’s my job to make guys accountable… Back-checking doesn’t require talent; it requires will, and this is what this team is about.”
That accountability moment stemmed from a sequence that was hard to ignore. With under 15 seconds left in the second period, a turnover in the offensive zone turned into a Buffalo rush.
Barzal and Duclair coasted back, while Lee was left as the only forward trying to cover defensively. The Sabres took advantage.
Zach Benson found Thompson wide open in the slot, and he buried it past David Rittich. Just like that, a manageable 1-0 deficit became a two-goal hole.
Roy didn’t hesitate. He rolled only three lines in the final frame, and the second line never saw the ice again. Not because of effort over the course of the game - but because of one moment where effort was missing when it mattered most.
And to be clear, this wasn’t Roy singling out Lee.
“Barzy is a leader on this team, and unfortunately, for Anders, he was on that line, and sometimes, you have to take it for the team,” Roy said. “I have nothing to say about him… He’s part of that line. You play with your linemate, you stick with your linemate, and you back your linemate.”
That last part - “you back your linemate” - hits at the heart of Roy’s message. This wasn’t just about a missed assignment or a blown play.
It was about a lack of collective urgency. And it wasn’t the first time he’d seen it from that group.
Roy pointed back to the Islanders’ 4-1 loss in Seattle, the final stop of a 3-3-1 road trip. That game featured similar breakdowns from the same trio, and Saturday’s lapse was the final straw.
Barzal didn’t push back on the benching. He understood it.
“It was pretty straightforward,” Barzal said. “Our line in Seattle gave up a few odd-man rushes, and in the last minute of the period [Saturday], we gave one up, and they scored. Patrick’s just doing what he thinks needs to be done to make us a winning team.”
That’s what this is about for Roy - building a team that doesn’t just talk about accountability but lives it. And in a league where star players often get longer leashes, Roy made it clear that no one’s above the standard.
Bo Horvat, returning from a nine-game injury absence, saw the message land.
“This shows that nobody gets special treatment here,” Horvat said. “No matter who you are, you’re going to be held accountable. When you see certain guys like that not play, it makes you want to work that much harder to not be in that position.”
The loss dropped the Islanders to 27-19-5 and continued a rough stretch - five losses in their last eight games. They also slipped out of sole possession of second place in the Metropolitan Division, now tied with the Flyers, who they’ll face Monday in a game that suddenly feels a little more charged.
In the big picture, Saturday’s result won’t define the Islanders’ season. But Roy’s decision to park three of his most prominent forwards in a blowout loss? That’s the kind of move that can echo through a locker room - and maybe shift the tone of a season.
One thing’s for sure: everyone in that room got the message.