With four games left in a season that has quickly turned into a sinking ship, Mathieu Darche did not wait to act.
Darche stunningly fired coach Patrick Roy and hired Pete DeBoer as his replacement on Easter Sunday, hoping to give the Islanders a badly needed spark to make the playoffs.
Roy, who has seemed out of answers in recent days, presided over a 3-7-0 stretch that saw the Islanders drop from a surefire playoff team to one that may need to win all of its remaining games to reach the tournament.
Patrick Roy is pictured after the Islanders’ April 4 loss to the Hurricanes. Imagn Images
Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the Hurricanes, which marked the Islanders’ fourth straight loss, left them with 89 points through 78 games. While they entered Sunday in third place in the Metropolitan Division, they were just one point ahead of the Flyers and Blue Jackets, who have two games and one game in hand, respectively. They were also two points ahead of the Capitals, who have a game in hand.
The Senators, who began the day with 88 points while occupying the second wild-card spot, had two games in hand.
DeBoer, who last coached the Stars in the NHL, was an assistant for Team Canada at the Olympics. The 57-year-old has been considered one of the top available coaching candidates all year.
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His 97 playoff wins are fifth all-time and the most by a coach who has yet to win a Stanley Cup.
DeBoer was in Dallas for three seasons, leading them to the Western Conference finals each year, before he was fired following their loss to the Oilers last year.
He previously led the Devils and Sharks to Stanley Cup Final appearances.
Peter DeBoer is pictured during an Islanders game in May 2025. NHLI via Getty Images
Roy, 60, took over for Lane Lambert in the middle of the 2023-24 season and got the Isles to the playoffs, where they lost in the first round.
After missing the postseason last year, the Islanders had been in position to return to the playoffs until their recent skid.
Roy finishes his Islanders tenure with a 97-78-22 record in the regular season.