Ilya Sorokin outduels Carey Price in goal as Islanders blank Canadiens

MONTREAL — Ilya Sorokin’s teammates and coaches believe the Islanders goalie should be a Vezina Trophy candidate.

If nothing else, he entered the Islanders’ record book by tying Chico Resch and Semyon Varlamov with his seventh shutout in a 3-0 win over the Canadiens on Friday night at Bell Centre.

With Varlamov (non-COVID-19 illness) unavailable, Sorokin started for the third time in four nights and set a career high for saves (44) for a second straight game. He outdueled future Hall of Famer Carey Price (17 saves), who made an emotional first start this season after seeking treatment for substance abuse and recovering from knee surgery.

“I think he’s in the top five of three stats [goals against, shutouts and save percentage] and I think there hasn’t been enough Vezina talk, even with the season we’ve had,” Mathew Barzal said. “I think he’s very deserving of that.”

“He’s absolutely correct on that,” said coach Barry Trotz, adding Sorokin should have another four shutouts except for late-game gaffes by the Islanders. “He probably won’t get a lot of votes because we’re not a playoff-bound team. The narrative of the New York area is [the Rangers’ Igor] Shesterkin. Our guy is right there. Just people don’t know yet.”

Sorokin made 43 saves in a 6-3 loss in Pittsburgh on Thursday night.

Any combination of three points either lost by the Islanders (35-30-9) or gained by the Capitals (41-23-10) will eliminate the Islanders from contention for the postseason. The Islanders will conclude this three-game road trip on Sunday night in Toronto.

Zach Parise, with his fourth goal in three games, opened the scoring at 4:25 of the third period on a give-and-go with Barzal off a three-on-none rush. Defenseman Noah Dobson’s rip from the right circle at 6:09 pushed it to 2-0. Brock Nelson added an empty-netter.

Price, a future Hall of Famer, last played on July 7 when the Canadiens lost the deciding Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final to the Lightning.

Notes & quotes: Goalie Ken Appleby was brought up on emergency recall from the Islanders’ ECHL affiliate in Worcester, which happened to be playing nearby in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec . . . Oliver Wahlstrom, skating on the fourth line, was back in after a one-game absence as a healthy scratch . . . Equipment manager Scott Boggs worked his 2,000th professional game and massage therapist Jim Miccio worked his 1,000th NHL game.

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.