Some National Hockey League coaches don't seem indifferent to Patrick Roy's daring techniques.
During his coaching career, the Montreal Canadiens legend made a habit of picking off his goaltender very early in the third period when his club was down by several goals. This was the case when he sat behind the bench for the Colorado Avalanche between 2013 and 2016, and he has continued to do so since his arrival with the New York Islanders last January.
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On Thursday, with the Islanders trailing the St. Louis Blues 3-0, Roy asked Semyon Varlamov to move to the bench and use a sixth outfielder with nearly 11 minutes left in the game. The tactic didn't work as the Blues took advantage of the empty cage to score a fourth goal.
Roy tried again two days later against the Tampa Bay Lightning, this time with just under six minutes left in the third period. Although his charges managed to reduce the score to 3:1, they lost 4:2.
Additionally, Jon Cooper attempted the same thing against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday. With 9:16 minutes left in the game and a three-goal deficit to be made up, Andrei Vasilevskiy was called back to the bench. Steven Stamkos scored a few minutes later, but the Flyers then scored two unanswered goals to confirm their 6-2 win.
Will other coaches follow suit? This will continue.