Sorokin has been the go-to guy every game since Varlamov's injury.
New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin will start his 10th straight game on Saturday night when the puck drops against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The 29-year-old backstop, who had offseason back surgery, has been called upon each and every game, including a back-to-back situation, with Semyon Varlamov on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury.
Over these nine games prior, Sorokin is sporting a 4-4-1 record, with a 3.00 GAA and an .894 SV%.
The numbers aren't pretty, but the 5-on-5 and penalty-kill breakdown is why his numbers look the way they do:
On Thursday, Patrick Roy discussed how fatigue is more of a mental thing than a physical one. He said that when he was playing, if he allowed himself to think he was tired, he would be tired, but if he didn't think about the number of games and focused one game at a time, he was fine.
Yeah, sure," Sorokin said when asked about what Roy said. "Everything's going from mental, from your head, and if your head is in the right place, you are going to feel good."
Sorokin said that he's played 20 games in a row before, but that was in the KHL Playoffs.
"It's a little bit different," Sorokin said. "There's time for rest when series is over but it's interesting. It's a good challenge. And I like a challenge."
Sorokin is 5-3-0 against the Maple Leafs over his career, with a 2.87 GAA and a .919 SV%.