The Islanders didn’t give Ilya Sorokin much of a chance in their 8-3 loss to the Penguins on Monday at UBS Arena.
Now, will Patrick Roy give his Vezina Trophy candidate an immediate chance at redemption?
“We gotta talk about this one and see where we’re at,” coach Patrick Roy said ahead of Tuesday’s game in Buffalo.
Sorokin, who was repeatedly stranded by his teammates as he allowed a career-worst seven goals, said he was physically ready to play in back-to-back games.
Mentally, he was already there.
“It happens,” Sorokin said. “It’s hockey. It’s just one game.”
Earlier in the day, Roy sounded eager to see his star take on a heavy workload in the regular season’s final two weeks. Sorokin, who made his 12th appearance in 13 games, has made back-to-back starts just once this season, but had one of his best performances of the season in the second game of that set, recording his league-leading seventh shutout in a crucial 1-0 win over Columbus on March 22.
After Tuesday, the Islanders have two days off. Then, they start another back-to-back set, hosting Philadelphia on Friday, then traveling to face Carolina on Saturday. Another back-to-back begins on April 11, when the Islanders host Ottawa before facing Montreal in the penultimate game of the regular season. The finale — against the Hurricanes — will be their third game in four days.
“He hasn’t played a lot of volume games until now,” Roy said. “I think we’ve been managing this very well. Right now the urgency is to play game-by-game. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Worry about today.
“The mind is a lot weaker than the body. The body can take a lot more than you think. It’s the mind you need to convince. I think that’s all it is. He’s been a force for us. He’s been playing so well. Every mistake that we make, he’s there to cover for them. Would I like to not give up turnovers and not give up breakaways, yes, I would love to, but that’s why we have one of the best in the game.”
Mathew Barzal broke a nine-game drought without a goal, scoring his 19th of the season. … Cal Ritchie recorded a pair of assists, extending his point streak to five games … The Islanders went 1-for-2 on the power play — after converting one of their previous 12 attempts — but also surrendered a power-play goal for the first time in five games.
Defenseman Tony DeAngelo (lower-body injury) missed his third straight game and has not yet begun skating … Defenseman Alexander Romanov (shoulder) participated in Monday’s morning skate in a noncontact jersey.
