Sorokin faces immense pressure, needing a dominant rebound performance to silence critics and cement his status as the Islanders' unwavering backbone.
ELMONT, NY -- One of the knocks on New York Islanders No. 1 goaltender Ilya Sorokin has been his performance when the spotlight has been the brightest.
Sunday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets wasn't just the biggest hockey game of the season for the Islanders, but for Sorokin, it was a chance to rebound in the most figurative and literal way possible.
Less than 24 hours prior, Sorokin allowed six goals on 32 shots in a 7-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. In an effort to keep him fresh enough for back-to-back starts, head coach Patrick Roy pulled Sorokin following that sixth goal against, with 8:40 to play in the third.
That decision paid dividends as Sorokin was brilliant, stopping all 26 shots that came his way in a 1-0 shutout win to get the Islanders back in a playoff spot.
“After yesterday’s game, it was important to continue to do what I do all season,” Sorokin said. “There was nothing bigger I could do. I just tried to play simply, and the guys played behind me very well. It was a big game tonight, and we played very decently.”
Playing goal is one of the most mentally taxing positions in all of sports. No one knows that better than Roy, who took a risk playing Sorokin back-to-back games.
"When I had a game that I was not 100% happy with -- I'm ot saying he played badly here -- I'm saying he was not 100% happy. You want to play right away. You want to have that chance to play even the next night. For some reason, your focus is better. And so Ilya is a person who loves to compete, and he did a really nice job. It's not easy coming back after a couple of losses, as we had, but he showed a lot of character. It's one of the reasons why he's a leader on our team."
With Sorokin's seventh shutout win of the season, the Vezina favorite tied himself, Semyon Varlamov, and Chico Resch for the team's single-season shutout record:
On top of his seven shutouts, Sorokin is now 26-17-2 on the season with a 2.53 GAA and a.913 SV%, playing a vital role in the Islanders finding themselves in a playoff spot with 11 games to go.