Islanders end three-game losing streak as Ilya Sorokin earns shutout, Simon Holmstrom nets pair

The Islanders talked about the problem, both in formal team meetings and in one-to-one conversations between players in the dressing room. Of course they wanted to figure out why protecting leads in the third period was such an issue.

“For a while there we were just like, ‘This is bad bounces,’ ” Hudson Fasching said. “It’s just like, how can that possibly keep happening? And then eventually it just happens enough where it creates its own narrative.

“For a while, we were like, ‘It’s just going to go away. Bad bounces.’ Eventually, you’ve got to address it because it keeps happening.”

So now their hope is that Saturday night’s 3-0 win over the Sabres at UBS Arena — in which the Islanders took a two-goal lead into the third period and snapped a three-game losing streak — has, in Fasching’s words, “exorcised our demons a little bit and hopefully use this as a springboard.”

Both teams were playing on back-to-back days.

Simon Holmstrom had his second straight two-goal game, including an empty-netter, and Ilya Sorokin made 29 saves for his first shutout since Nov. 25, 2023. That included stretching to deny Dylan Cozens’ shorthanded one-timer at 1:11 of the third period to preserve the Islanders’ two-goal lead.

Coach Patrick Roy called the save “key” to the win.

“I remember when it was the last shutout. It was a long time ago,” Sorokin said. “We played smart and we played with confidence.”

The Islanders (9-10-6) had been in a 1-4-2 skid and had failed to protect third-period leads in five of those games.

“It’s good to talk about it,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “Obviously, we were all frustrated with it. And tonight, we did a heck of a job. We’ve got to know that feeling, know what it takes and keep doing it.”

“It’s nice to just nip it in the bud,” said Anders Lee, who got to the net to redirect Kyle Palmieri’s feed for a power-play goal to open the scoring at 7:23 of the first period. “Get rid of what we’ve been feeling. We just went out there and had a great game. Ilya was strong.

“It’s exactly what we wanted tonight. We wanted to have to go face it. We did exactly what we wanted to do. Go get a two-goal lead and let’s finish this off.”

The Islanders went 1-for-3 with four shots on the power play after going 1-for-14 in the previous seven games. Roy described the man-advantage effort as “awful” after Friday afternoon’s 5-4 overtime loss in Washington. The Islanders took a 4-2 lead into the third period of that game.

“We moved it faster,” Roy said. “That’s how you need to do it in the league now. You need to move the puck fast.”

Lee also fed Holmstrom on an odd-man rush, and he shot the puck past the outstretched glove of James Reimer (17 saves) to make it 2-0 at 9:28 of the second period.

“He’s such a smart player,” Lee said of Holmstrom, who had never had a multi-goal game before Friday. Both have come after being elevated to Bo Horvat’s top line with Lee against the Capitals with Jean-Gabriel Pageau (lower body) sidelined.

“He sees the ice and understand what Bo and I are trying to do and where we want him when he doesn’t have the puck,” Lee said. “He’s winning a lot of battles so he keeps the puck alive for us.”

Notes & quotes: The Islanders dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen with Pageau (lower body) still unavailable and listed as day-to-day . . . Pierre Engvall was the healthy scratch. Roy said he has been unhappy with Engvall playing too much on the outside in the offensive zone. “When he’s played his best, it’s when he goes to the net front,” Roy said. “When you start to play on the outside, I’m not as crazy about him when he does that. Sometimes just watching a game, hopefully that will send a message.” . . . D Scott Mayfield was in the lineup after exiting against the Capitals in the third period when he was struck in the face by a shot. Mayfield did not require additional facial protection against the Sabres . . . F Matt Martin had his apparent first goal of the season overturned at 12:52 of the first period when the Sabres successfully challenged that Casey Cizikas was offside.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

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.