Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin is the clear X-factor if they're going to make the playoffs. But, with Patrick Roy getting the team to play better in front of him, he doesn't need to be the reason for wins. He just needs to do his job.
EAST MEADOW, NY -- When New York Islanders head coach Patrick Roy spoke to the media following a critical 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings, he was asked about the play of goaltender Ilya Sorokin, who made 22 saves on 25 shots.
"I don't think he was a factor in our win, but he played well enough to help us," Roy said. "I think the guys played really well in front of him."
In the year and a half under former head coach Lane Lambert, Sorokin was left out to dry most nights.
There was no extra support, and winning games usually meant Sorokin put together a sixty-minute highlight reel.
Look no further than his Vezina-caliber stat line last season (2.34 GAA, .924 SV%, 6 SO), which earned him a few votes for the Hart Trophy, the team's clear-cut MVP, after the Islanders made the playoffs.
This season under Lambert, Sorokin faced a league-leading 1,132 shots through 34 games, a tad over 34 shots per game.
At 5-on-5, Sorokin faced a league-leading 888 shots, 210 considered high danger (second most), per NaturalStatrick.com.
The Islanders have cleaned up their act since Roy's arrival, allowing the 10th fewest shots against per 60, at 27.57, with league-lows in Expected Goals Against per 60 (2.17) and High-Danger Chances Against per 60 (9.04).
Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov (four starts) have benefitted from the stronger defense, allowing 2.02 goals per 60, the eighth-best in the NHL over that span.
Under Roy, Sorokin has faced 311 shots, which ranks 13th in the NHL, averaging out to 31 per game.
So, what do these stats all mean?
It means that over these final 23 games in the regular season, Sorokin will need to be the x-factor if the Islanders are going to make the playoffs.
That doesn't mean he has to be the first star every night. It means he has to make the saves he needs to make and, in big moments, give his team a chance to win.
Flashback to the 2018-19 season, Barry Trotz's first season on Long Island.
The Islanders' play in front of Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss that season allowed them to take home the Jennings Trophy.
They had collective success because they were given support, which allowed them to do their jobs.
Sorokin, who has more talent than both those netminders combined, has never been given a defense quite like that, where he can focus on just doing his job.
He's always had to be better than that.
But as we've seen, looking back to the 2023 first-round playoff series against the Carolina Hurricanes, the weak goals have come at inopportune times.
We saw it Thursday night in Detroit, where Sorokin allowed Red Wings defenseman Olli Maata to sneak one under his pad, which tilted the ice in the home team's favor for a bit.
There's no question that Sorokin will need to steal some games down the stretch here for the Islanders to get in, but if the defensive structure can hold, Roy will need Sorokin to stop the ones he's capable of.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tmiUF4J-gk[/embed]