Patrick Roy denies early goal pull was due to analytics

CALGARY, Alberta — The irony in Patrick Roy’s comments following the Islanders’ 4-2 loss to the Flames on Saturday is that Roy might cite analytics publicly more than any other coach in the league.

On this day, though, after being asked whether his early goalie pull had anything to do with what the stats were telling him — (narrator: it does) — Roy didn’t want to hear about the numbers.

“I believe that we’re gonna win the game,” Roy said of his reasons for going to an empty net with eight minutes left in regulation with his team trailing 4-1. “I’m not doing this for analytics. I’ll give you an example: Tonight you’re looking at expected goals against. The first one, there’s a tip, they give .20-something. That never hit the net. The wraparound they gave .17, that never hit the net.

Patrick Roy shouts out instructions during the Islanders’ loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Jan. 13, 2026. AP

“So I don’t give a s—t about analytics, to be honest with you.”

Roy hasn’t done the unconventionally early goalie pull this year often, in large part because his team hasn’t often been trailing by enough goals to warrant it.

The move has long been part of his calculus, though, and drew attention as far back as his first NHL coaching stint with the Avalanche a decade ago.

The thinking behind it is, funnily enough, steeped in analytics, which Roy has explained himself before.

On Saturday, he seemed to think the question was asking whether he was trying to pump up the Islanders’ expected goals numbers rather than whether the analytics show that the early goalie pull would increase their chances of winning.

The Islanders ultimately made it 4-2 with the net empty, but failed to do much more than that, even after getting a late power play.