Ilya Sorokin struggles as Islanders fall to Hurricanes for fifth straight loss
Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin reacts after allowing a goal to the Hurricanes during the first period at UBS Arena on Tuesday. Credit: Brad Penner
Patrick Roy conceded he was “not 100% pleased” with No. 1 goalie Ilya Sorokin. That was before the Islanders’ latest loss.
After, the Islanders coach seemed more concerned about lengthy shift times for his players.
There’s a lot to worry about now.
The Islanders’ playoff chances took another serious hit with a 4-1 defeat, their fifth straight, to the playoff-bound Hurricanes on Tuesday night at UBS Arena.
Sorokin, who has lost his last four starts, struggled through the Hurricanes’ three-goal first period and finished with 30 saves.
“We lost,” said Sorokin, who has a sub-par .895 save percentage in his last four games. “No good. That’s all I can say.”
The Islanders (29-24-15), in an 0-4-1 skid, are now five points behind the Flyers for third place in the Metropolitan Division and three points back of the Red Wings for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot. They next play in Detroit on Thursday night.
“Things change quick in this league,” Matt Martin said. “No one’s exactly running away with this thing, that’s the only positive. We still have life and then when you find life inside this locker room you’ll find ways to win because obviously it’s not good enough.”
Sorokin, who finished in the Vezina Trophy balloting last season, dropped to 22-17-11 with a 3.03 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.
“I’m not 100% pleased with him, it’s obvious,” Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie with the Canadiens and Avalanche, said before the game. “And I’m sure he’s not himself.”
After the game, Roy said he liked that Sorokin finished by stopping all 20 shots he faced in the last two periods.
“I was very happy the way he bounced back,” Roy said. “And that’s what we wanted to see.”
Meanwhile, Roy’s pre-game comment did not filter back to Sorokin.
“I don’t read the news,” Sorokin said. “I try to do my best. Every day I come to practice and try to do my best.”
Pyotr Kochetkov stopped 30 shots for the Hurricanes (43-20-6), who have won four straight and nine of their last 11.
Kyle Palmieri spoiled Kochetkov’s shutout bid at 4:30 of the third period, putting in the rebound of Brock Nelson’s shot on a two-on-one rush. But Jake Guentzel’s empty-netter at 16:22 ended any suspense.
“On a positive note, I liked the way we played the last 30 minutes,” Roy said. “We were starting to skate. We started to play more north. We started moving the puck faster.
“I was looking at the [score]sheet and of their 12 forwards only one guy played over 50 seconds. Us, we had seven guys that are playing more than 50-second shifts. They’re pretty intense, they’re on the puck, they hunt the puck. If you want to do this on a consistent basis, you cannot have long shifts.”
The Islanders started the game looking much sharper than they did at any point in Sunday’s 5-2 disconnected loss to the Rangers at Madison Square as they were strong on the forecheck and possessing the puck.
But transporting through the neutral zone became an issue about midway through the period and Seth Jarvis gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead at 12:48 as he slid the puck through Sorokin’s pads from below the right circle. The goal seemed to stun the Islanders, who were caught looking defensively as Jarvis, getting to the crease, finished a tic-tac-toe passing sequence off the rush with a feed from Guentzel at 14:53.
The dagger came with 1.3 seconds remaining as Martin Necas, on an unscreened power-play look from the high slot, beat Sorokin past his blocker to make it 3-0 as the crowd loudly booed the Islanders into the first intermission.
Notes & quotes: Left wing Pierre Engvall, without a point in his last four games, was a healthy scratch with Hudson Fasching drawing into the lineup. “I wasn’t too happy about his play lately,” Roy said . . . The Islanders wore their road white jerseys with the Hurricanes only traveling with their black jerseys on their three-game road trip . . . The Islanders had their franchise-record streak of not allowing a first-period goal snapped at 10 games . . . Defensemen Samuel Bolduc and Robert Bortuzzo and forward Oliver Wahlstrom remained healthy scratches.
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.
