Islanders' goaltending not to blame if team fails to make playoffs
Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin adjusts his mask in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks at UBS Arena on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
To further the discussion Patrick Roy started, if the Islanders do not make the playoffs — and, honestly, it really seems we’re in miracle territory now if they do — the blame will not rest on the goaltending.
Yes, the Lightning and Hurricanes put up a total of 11 goals on Ilya Sorokin and Marcus Hogberg over the weekend. Sorokin almost certainly will get another crack at the Lightning on Tuesday night at UBS Arena as the Islanders open a three-game homestand three points behind the Canadiens for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot and the Rangers, Blue Jackets and Red Wings between them.
But Sorokin’s 27-22-6 record — with a 2.77 goals-against average and a .905 save percentage, as he’s on pace to surpass his career high of 60 starts — also reflects the turnovers and lapses in defensive structure that have hurt the Islanders at times this season.
And Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie with understandably high standards, was not trying to throw Hogberg under the Zamboni when the coach, after being asked about the defensive structure in Sunday’s 6-4 road loss to the Hurricanes, responded “maybe start with a couple of saves.” The affable Hogberg admitted to Newsday that there were a couple of goals he thought he should have stopped.
Still, Islanders turnovers led to goals, even if Hogberg could not make the saves off the rush. For instance, Seth Jarvis’ shorthanded goal late in the second period with the Islanders on a four-minute power play.
“It’s a good penalty kill. They have guys out there with good sticks,” Kyle Palmieri said. “I was trying to kind of chip that one by and [defenseman Jaccob] Slavin made a nice play to knock it down. It’s tough. The turnover is on me. When you turn pucks over in that situation, it’s usually not a good thing. It’s got to be a better play by me.”
Before a media scrum developed around him, Palmieri, talking to Newsday, assessed Hogberg’s performance. His take was different from Roy’s.
“It’s tough,” Palmieri told Newsday. “Hoggy made some big saves.”
Hogberg is 2-4-1 with a 2.39 GAA and .915 save percentage in his first season back in the NHL since playing for the Senators in 2020-21. But the 6-5, 234-pound Swede wasn’t supposed to be the Islanders’ backup. Semyon Varlamov, in the second season of a four-year, $11 million deal, again was supposed to work in tandem with Sorokin.
But Varlamov has not played since Nov. 29 and clearly is done for this season with a lower-body injury. What happens next season? Anybody’s guess.
The upshot is that Sorokin has played more this season than likely was intended originally, especially after Hogberg was injured for a spell and rookie Jakub Skarek was forced into backup duty.
Sorokin just didn’t seem to be moving smoothly against the Lightning. The same certainly can be said of Wednesday’s 5-2 home loss to the Canucks in which Sorokin was pulled at 1:05 of the third period after giving up four goals on 19 shots.
The Islanders, without the injured Mathew Barzal and the traded Brock Nelson, needed superhuman goaltending efforts in some games to steal points. Even if they didn’t get it, that doesn’t mean missing the playoffs is on the goalies.
Sorokin gets compared to the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin because of their close relationship. But imagine if he could be held to the standard of Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Lightning’s two-time Stanley Cup winner.
“I know him a little bit,” Sorokin told Newsday. “We played two World Championships. He’s one year older than me so, from school, we play against each other. He’s one of the best in the nation. Very big. Very athletic. Very smart. His achievements show who he is.”
Notes & quotes: The Islanders announced that Michigan State forward Joey Larson, 24, has agreed to a one-year, entry-level deal for 2025-26. The 6-1, 196-pounder had 10 goals and 14 assists in 37 games this season as a junior.
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.
