Andrew Gross: Ilya Sorokin, Islanders defense are the calm amid the storm of a playoff push
Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin makes a save in the second period against the Columbus Blue Jackets at UBS Arena on Sunday. Credit: Newsday/Thomas A. Ferrara
At his best, Ilya Sorokin organizes chaos for the Islanders, simplifying it into manageable on-ice moments.
And when the Islanders are at their best, that’s what their defense is doing in front of their No. 1 netminder, keeping things simple and to the outside and limiting first, second and third chances around the net.
Sunday night could have been very chaotic for the Islanders with top-pair defenseman Ryan Pulock unavailable because of a lower-body injury, the surging Blue Jackets at UBS Arena and Sorokin having been pulled from a blowout loss the previous night in Montreal.
Instead, their most complete 60-minute effort since wins over the Flyers and Rangers the last week of January led to a 1-0 victory at UBS Arena that reinflated their playoff chances after deflating losses to the Senators and Canadiens.
“It’s a game and we have 20 hours to start the next game,” Sorokin said after making 26 saves for his seventh shutout of the season to tie Chico Resch and Semyon Varlamov for the team’s single-season record. This after allowing six goals on 32 shots in Saturday night’s 7-3 loss in Montreal.
Sunday’s win moved the Islanders (40-26-5) past the Red Wings into the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot after Thursday’s last-second 3-2 loss in Ottawa dropped them out of a playoff position for the first time since Dec. 4.
“I just try to forget [Saturday’s] game like a bad day,” Sorokin said. “Today, when I wake up, just have fun in the morning routine with the guys and enjoy the moment.”
Sorokin started back-to-back games for the first time this season.
“Today I feel better than yesterday,” he said. “Usually it works like that. The second game you feel better. I don’t know why it’s like this.”
Sorokin was the picture of calm in a storm of a third period, particularly after the Islanders had a second goal overturned at 12:06 because Blue Jackets coach Rick Bowness successfully challenged that Anders Lee interfered with Jet Greaves. (Lee, coach Patrick Roy and the eye test all agreed the Blue Jackets’ Mathieu Olivier pushed Lee into the crease.)
The Blue Jackets, who had a 12-game point streak snapped but are 18-3-4 since Bowness was named coach on Jan. 12, pressured the rest of the game. NaturalStatTrick.com computed the Blue Jackets to have a 5-1 edge in high-danger chances in the third period.
The disparity at the end seemed even greater than those advanced metrics.
“Definitely the highest stress so far this season, and I thought we handled it really well,” said Bo Horvat, who scored the lone goal off the rush at 1:25 of the first period. “Not only goaltending but all the way through our lineup. Guys were making plays still and still trying to press and play well in the third.
“It’s going to be high stress the rest of the way. For us to come out on the good side of it tonight should give us confidence going forward.”
This started a stretch of playing 10 of their last 12 games at UBS Arena, which has had 15 straight sellouts of 17,255.
It also gave the Islanders their 26th one-goal win of the season, tying the franchise record first set in 2014-15.
Sorokin’s ability to organize chaos is a big factor in that.
But so, too, on Sunday was how the defense corps rallied in Pulock’s absence.
Rookie sensation Matthew Schaefer showed yet another level defensively by switching seamlessly to his off side to pair with fellow lefty Adam Pelech. Carson Soucy, elevated from the third pair to skate with Tony DeAngelo, played his strongest game as an Islander since being acquired from the Rangers on Jan. 26 with five blocks in 18:55. Adam Boqvist, a healthy scratch the previous eight games and in 17 of the last 18, had an assist.
“After [Saturday’s] game, it was important to continue what I do all season, nothing bigger that I can do,” Sorokin said. “I tried to play simple. The guys played behind me very well. No penalty kills tonight. We played very disciplined and a big two points.”
“He didn’t have much to do in the first 40 [minutes],” Roy said. “But in the last five or six minutes, he made some really good saves, and that’s why he’s one of the best in the game.”
The chaos that could have been Sunday was kept to a minimum because of Sorokin.
And his defense.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
