Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin finds the NHL schedule to be a 'good challenge'
New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
TORONTO — Ilya Sorokin started twice as many games in row — 20 in the playoffs — in the KHL before joining the Islanders as the NHL career high he will match when he starts Saturday night against the Maple Leafs at Scotiabank Arena.
But the Russian netminder readily acknowledged the NHL schedule is more compact and grueling. Rest was more plentiful during his playoff runs with CSKA Moscow.
“It’s interesting,” Sorokin said after Friday’s practice at Northwell Health Ice Center of starting 10 in a row, which coincides with Semyon Varlamov (lower body/long-term injured reserve) being unavailable. “It’s a good challenge and I like challenges.
“I feel good. I just focus on simple things that I can control and try to do the right things at the right time.”
But like the Islanders (12-15-7), who have lost the first two matches of this three-game road trip, things have been a struggle of late for Sorokin. He was pulled after allowing four goals on 23 shots in two periods behind a disorganized defensive effort in Tuesday’s 4-0 loss to the Hurricanes.
Sorokin (9-10-4, 2.81 goals-against average, .904 save percentage) has allowed four goals in each of his last three starts and been pulled twice in favor of Marcus Hogberg in the last seven games. That includes a 5-2 loss to the Kraken at UBS Arena on Dec. 5 in which Sorokin gave up four goals on 13 shots in likely the Islanders’ worst game of the season.
Both times, pulling Sorokin was more about coach Patrick Roy trying to send a message to the rest of the team.
Still…
“Of course when you start a game you want to finish a game,” Sorokin said. “But you understand when the team needs some mental shake-up. It’s part of the game.
“I try to make one mood, always. Of course, I have good days. I have bad days. I try not to think a lot.”
To that end, Sorokin is very successful. His even-keel nature belies the competitive nature every successful athlete has.
“He’s totally different than who I was,” said Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie with the Canadiens and Avalanche. “He’s calm. He doesn’t talk too much. Me, I was more vocal. More body language. I feel like he’s in his bubble.
“I guess he makes guys comfortable because of how calm he is. And I guess he makes guys more relaxed and more confident because of it.”
Roy said on Thursday any fatigue is usually more mental than physical.
Sorokin agreed.
“Yeah, sure,” Sorokin said. “Everything is going from your head. If your head is in the right place, your body feels good.”
Notes & quotes
Anthony Duclair (lower body/LTIR) appears ready to rejoin the lineup after missing 28 games since getting hurt on Oct. 19. Duclair, who signed a four-year, $14 million deal to be a top-six finisher, played just five games with two goals and an assist before being sidelined. Roy cautiously listed him as a game-time decision but Duclair skated on Brock Nelson’s line with Kyle Palmieri in practice and also worked with a power-play unit, strong indications he’ll play. “It looks like he’s going to play,” Roy said . . . Rookie defenseman Isaiah George is also likely to draw back into the lineup after a healthy scratch the previous two games. “I think it’s just part of the game, part of finding my way,” said George, who had not been out of the lineup since being called up from the Islanders’ AHL affiliate in Bridgeport on Nov. 5. “I wasn’t upset by it. You just get ready for your next opportunity.”
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.
