Islanders must start limiting turnovers in defensive zone: Patrick Roy

DALLAS — Mostly, Patrick Roy stuck to an optimistic tone after the Islanders lost their second straight game to open the season.But he did make a point of mentioning that turnovers exiting the defensive zone have been a persistent issue — one that directly led to a Stars goal on Saturday and one that has been noticeable through each of the first two games this season.“I just think the more we’re going to play, the better we’re going to get,” Roy said.“Sometimes we just need to be a little more heavy on our stick and simplify, maybe, some of our decisions.”The second of three Dallas goals on Saturday came right after the puck went off Max Tsyplakov’s stick as the Islanders tried to exit the zone.

Kyle Palmieri would blame himself for that, saying the puck had been on his stick first, and he bore responsibility for Jamie Benn’s ensuing goal.“It was just bad luck, in my opinion,” Roy said.“I think Palmsy hit the puck and that made Max miss the puck as well.

It stayed in the zone and made it a 2-0 game.”The Islanders outshot the Stars in the 3-0 defeat and did better in most analytic measures of scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick.But that did not comport with the eye test, as the Islanders struggled to get on the same page when passing the puck for the first two periods and appeared to suffer a defensive miscommunication on the opening goal, when nobody picked up Tyler Seguin.“First of all, we need to cover our ‘D’ on the rush,” Roy said.

“And then sometimes, when a forward comes back, as a defenseman, could create a bit of confusion.But they made a great play on this.

We just missed that pass and Bo [Horvat] was very close to getting it.”The Islanders were 2-for-2 on the penalty kill after going 0-for-2 against Utah two nights prior.Sign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.

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