Appreciate What Ilya Sorokin Is Doing Right Now
Ilya Sorokin continues to rise to the occassion while the Islanders make their playoff push.
New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin is rising to the occasion and leading their push to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
On Thursday, in a game where the Islanders were heavily outplayed, Sorokin made 38 saves in a 4-3 overtime win to help his team inch closer to the second wild-card spot.
He also recorded two points, with two assists — the latter on Bo Horvat’s overtime dagger — becoming the first-ever netminder in franchise history to record two points in a game.
His three points on the season (one goal, two assists) tie Calgary Flames netminder Dustin Wolf and Carolina Hurricanes netminder Pytor Kochetkov.
That game against Montreal was just more of the same for Sorokin as of late.
Sorokin has allowed three or fewer goals over his last eight starts (5-2-1) with a 2.37 GAA and a .923 SV%.
He’s been a workhorse yet again, starting five straight games and 18 of the last 20, appearing in 21 of the last 23 games. He is one of eight goaltenders to play in 50 or more games so far this season.
Per Islanders statistician Eric Hornick: Sorokin is the first goalie to appear in at least 52 games four times as an Islander; he is 7-2-1 in his last ten games, and his 27 wins are the second-highest total of his career. Sorokin is the first goalie in Islander history with a multiple-assist game and the first Islander goalie with a goal and an assist in the same season. Sorokin also joins Ron Hextall (December 1993) as the only Islander goalie with three points in a month, as he becomes the first Islander goalie with multiple overtime assists in his career (3/9/23 in Pittsburgh).
His 52 games played this season are second most in the NHL behind Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck and Tampa Bay Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy, who have played 54.
All these accomplishments, especially lately for Sorokin, are incredible, considering that he is coming off off-season back surgery.
This time last season, Sorokin was struggling and lost his starting job to backup netminder Semyon Varlamov. To Varlamov’s credit, he earned more opportunities due to his consistency.
But, with no Varlamov since Nov. 29, Sorokin has had to be the guy, and at the most critical time of the season, he’s coming through in more ways than one.
I get it. Sorokin makes $8.25 million annually and he should be elite every time he steps in the crease. Like the team this season, he’s had his struggles, but, as the old cliche goes, “It’s how you bounce back.”
Right now, Sorokin has shaken off a weaker February (3.34 GAA, .892 SV%), posting a 2.55 GAA and a .916 SV% through nine March starts.
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