Islanders need to decide on important Ilya Sorokin choice for consecutive games

Islanders Preparing for Critical Weekend Games Without Practice

MONTREAL — The Islanders skipped their practice on Friday. This left them uncertain about how to tackle their goal-scoring strategy as they head into an important weekend featuring back-to-back matchups against the Canadiens starting Saturday.

One might assume that Ilya Sorokin and David Rittich would alternate starts, but considering Sorokin’s track record when playing on consecutive days, it’s not guaranteed.

This season, the Islanders haven’t had to rely on Sorokin for back-to-back games, but last year they did it four times. They managed to win two of those contests, lost two, and split one.

Rittich has been decent enough this season to prevent Sorokin from being overused—after all, Sorokin has been the starting goalie for 43 of 69 games. Still, Rittich has struggled at times lately.

In his last ten starts, Rittich’s save percentage is .861. However, he shined in his most recent game, stopping 30 shots in a 3-2 victory over Calgary, which marked his best outing since early January.

But the real question is: can they trust him in this crucial game? The Islanders just lost to the Senators on Thursday, which pushed them below the cut line. They need at least two victories against either Montreal or Columbus to get back into playoff contention, a situation that’s pretty tense right now.

It’ll be fascinating to see how Patrick Roy handles the goaltending situation. Sorokin has been a consistent performer for the Islanders throughout the year.

With six shutouts to his name, he leads the league and is just behind Washington’s Logan Thompson in goals saved above the Evolving Hockey Expected Metric.

Even in Thursday’s game, Sorokin kept the Islanders in it, especially when they were trailing in the third period. He made an impressive stop on a 2-on-1 rush late in the game.

If the decision comes down to splitting the starts, it will be equally intriguing to see how the coaches allocate the games.

Looking ahead, Sunday’s matchup against Columbus makes more sense strategically since they are division rivals.

It’s possible the Islanders might decide to save Sorokin for Game 2, but would they really bench him after he’s posted a .939 save percentage and hasn’t allowed any goals in eight career games against the Canadiens?