Patrick Roy admitted that he had made a mistake.
More than a mistake, the Islander head coach essentially embarrassed young Tristan Lennox in his NHL debut, pulling him after just 4:43 after losing the third round pick in 2021 to the Rangers 9-2, losing Lennox's goal with the second shot he saw.
“After the sixth goal, I wanted to give Marcus a break. [Högberg]Roy said. “And I put Lennox in. When I saw my first goal, it's me.
“Maybe I should have kept it [Högberg in]. The kids had no opportunity to practice. I thought it was unfair to him to put him there like this. So I put Marcus back on. He didn't want to expose him and put him in a tough place. The chance we were giving was 2-3, 3-3. I didn't think it was fair for him to start with the first game. ”
Lennox, who has only played four games at AHL Bridgeport this season, has returned from a major knee injury that concluded 14 months in March, but has been in favor of Hegberg on an emergency basis with Illya Sorokin Hart.
For the islanders, Hegberg, who allowed eight goals with 30 shots on an embarrassing night, said he never had been pulled and then returned.
Roy said he plans to talk to Lennox on Friday.
“I'm sure he'll understand the situation. That's difficult,” Roy said. “He played at Bridgeport yesterday, drove here, skated in the morning, and got into this situation. I'm responsible for that. It may not have been my best decision.”
After Kyle Palmieri said the islanders didn't play with enough pride, Roy passionately opposed the review.
“The teams that don't work don't have 45 shots,” Roy said. “A team that doesn't take pride will not quit their job and will continue to shoot pucks on the other side.”
Roy insisted incredibly that Alexander Romanoff was “unaware” that he was benched for more than 10 minutes in the second period.
The Rangers took the islanders in the season series for the first time since 2003-2004, surpassing 23-5 in four games.
The islanders were technically not eliminated from Thursday's playoff race, but the loss reduced the exclusion to one. This means that Montreal can eliminate them on Friday with a victory or loss of overtime in Ottawa.
