Isles' Ilya Sorokin no stranger to playoff pressure
Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders makes a save during the second period against the Montreal Canadiens at UBS Arena on Wednesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
RALEIGH, N.C. — While it’s true Ilya Sorokin is entering his first NHL postseason run as the Islanders’ clear-cut No. 1 goalie, it’s a completely mistaken narrative to frame the 27-year-old Russian as a playoff newbie.
Quite the contrary. This is familiar territory for Sorokin, who had five seasons of playoff experience in the KHL, including leading CSKA Moscow to the Russian’s league’s Gagarin Cup in 2019 while being named the postseason MVP.
Game 1 of the first-round series between the wild-card Islanders and Metropolitan Division champion Hurricanes on Monday night at PNC Arena?
“It’s just another game,” Sorokin said.
Per the KHL website, Sorokin’s career playoff numbers in that league are an astounding 50-17-0 in 69 appearances with a minuscule 1.37 goals-against average, including 16 shutouts, and a brick wall-like .940 save percentage. Sorokin was also a member of the Olympic Athletes from Russia squad that won the gold medal in the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
Even if Sorokin was not accustomed to pressurized, elimination hockey, he could lean on his standout performance during the Islanders’ playoff push. He went 31-22-7 with a 2.33 GAA and a .924 save percentage, including an 11-4-1 mark in March and April while allowing two or fewer goals in six of his last eight starts.
Sorokin is expected to get some consideration for both the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goalie and the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP.
He would definitely be a Conn Smythe Trophy candidate as the playoff MVP if the Islanders somehow managed a miraculous run to the Stanley Cup.
“It’s another season,” Sorokin said of the playoffs. “The last couple of days we played like it’s a playoff game. It’s a little different.”
The Islanders didn’t clinch a playoff berth until beating the Canadiens, 4-2, in their season finale on Wednesday night at UBS Arena. Sorokin made 17 saves in the victory.
“It was very emotional, good memories,” Sorokin said. “It was a big, emotional moment for me.”
This will be the third NHL playoff experience for Sorokin.
He first joined the Islanders in the Toronto and Edmonton playoff bubbles in 2020 though he was ineligible to play as the team reached the semifinals before losing to the eventual Cup champion Lightning.
Sorokin then went 4-1-0 with a 2.79 GAA and a .922 save percentage in 2021 as the backup to Semyon Varlamov as the Islanders again reached the Eastern Conference final only to lose again to the eventual Cup champion Lightning.
“He’s had playoff action before,” coach Lane Lambert said. “For him, it doesn’t matter whether it’s this game or a game a month ago or two months ago or in the future. He plays the same way every day and in every game. We’re not concerned about that at all. He’s a very focused individual. That’s what makes him good.”
Sorokin said nothing changes for him whether he’s the No. 1 or sharing time with Varlamov, who last appeared in a game on April 1.
“No, it’s the same,” Sorokin said. “It doesn’t matter if I play or if I sit on the bench. I should always be ready.”
“We have extreme confidence in Sorokie every night,” Brock Nelson said. “We talk about that after probably 99% of our wins that he gave us a chance. It’s huge having him on our side, we think he’s one of the best.”
So do the Hurricanes, who have their own solid pair of goalies in Game 1 starter Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen.
Their strategy against Sorokin — just like it would be against any NHL goalie — was not complicated: Create traffic around the crease and make it difficult for Sorokin to see the puck.
“It’s all the cliches for goalies,” Hurricanes center Jordan Staal said. “No goalie likes traffic and get it upstairs when you get close. But just an elite goalie and he had a great year and really, I think, carried a big load for that team. We’ve got to get into his head by the way we play. It’s really about volume and putting as much as we can on him and hopefully he cracks.”
Nothing in Sorokin’s playoff history suggested he might.
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.
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