Ilya Sorokin provided the turning point of Saturday evening for his New York Islanders, which has not been out of the ordinary during his six years with the team.
Trailing 4-3 less than three minutes into the third period, he turned away a penalty shot from the NHL’s leading scorer, Shane Pinto of the Ottawa Senators — a wrister that was blockered away.
With newfound momentum, the Islanders clawed back and scored twice in the third, with Anders Lee stuffing home the winner with 1:13 remaining in regulation to give New York its second straight win.
But the questions surrounding Sorokin’s slow start very much remain. The 30-year-old former Vezina Trophy finalist has allowed four goals in each of his four games this season, though head coach Patrick Roy was quick to jump to his defense following Saturday’s 5-4 win.
“We gave up so many chances; we have to be better in front of him,” he said, which, in part, was true. New York’s defensive-zone structure and its backchecking were practically non-existent in the Canadian capital.
There was David Perron’s first-period power-play goal, though, which once again would be considered a softy by Sorokin’s standards. The Ottawa winger snapped a wrist shot from the left circle that was not screened, yet somehow trickled through the paraphernalia of the Islanders’ netminder.
An eerily similar instance occurred during Monday’s loss to the Winnipeg Jets, when he allowed defenseman Logan Stanley’s soft wrister to squeeze under his pads in a 5-2 loss.
Sorokin told reporters after Saturday’s game that he felt “good” and is just dealing with lapses in “small, little bit moments” (h/t Ethan Sears, New York Post), which is an improvement from how he felt following his loss against Winnipeg.
With wavering confidence, Roy finally stepped in to put the proverbial arm around his goaltender during the week as he turned to David Rittich for Thursday night’s 4-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. One of the greatest goalies of all-time, Roy has been hesitant to get too hands-on with his netminders.
“Shame on me. I should’ve done it before,” Roy said. “But I always felt, ‘Hey, let the goalie do their thing.’ I think I have some things I can share with him. I’m not going to help him on the technique side of the game, but I think I can help him on the mental side of the game because my career was not just a Cinderella story.
“I had good games, but I also had some bad ones. So I feel like being able to share that with your goalies is something that hopefully can go a long way.”
While the mental side of the game is paramount, the results need to follow. The Islanders host the San Jose Sharks and Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday and Thursday, where Sorokin will have to start getting that goals-against average down.
