At least for the time being, there is no controversy surrounding the goal on Long Island.
But Ilya Sorokin didn’t provide the comeback game the Islanders should have expected from him Thursday night.
Patrick Roy hinted at some doubts about his confidence in Sorokin on Tuesday morning before entering a tough first period in a 4-1 loss to the Hurricanes, and then went into Thursday’s game against the Islanders in Detroit. He quickly returned to star netminder for an important match. ‘ season.
And in a 6-3 loss, Sorokin stopped just 18 of 23 shots, losing to Detroit’s James Reimer, who stopped 33 of 36 shots.
That wasn’t the only reason the Islanders lost badly in a must-win game.
But the goaltender didn’t stand a chance, as the latest stats showed the Islanders allowed just 2.5 expected goals and five dangerous chances.
“I have a lot of confidence in him,” Roy told reporters at Little Caesars Arena before the game. “I talked to him [Wednesday] I’m not talking about him and how to stop the puck. That’s how I feel and think as a goalkeeper.
“I love him. He’s playing very well for us. I love the way he does it – that’s exactly what I said. [Tuesday night] — He bounced back after the first period. He made some great saves that kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win. And I was very happy with him. ”
Roy did not mention Sorokin after the game, but spent most of his press conference saying that the Islanders played well enough to win. That in itself is a tacit admission that the goaltending may not have been up to par.
“I’m very happy with our team’s performance,” he said. “We understand we need to win the game, but we need to start by playing well. Lately, I feel like we haven’t gotten our due. Tonight, we won. It was worth it.”
Semyon Varlamov will start in the back-to-back games against Winnipeg on Saturday, and Sorokin is expected to play in Sunday’s game against the Devils.
Pierre Envall is back in action after being injured in Tuesday’s game against the Hurricanes, and Matt Martin is back in action.
Robert Bortuzzo played in his first game since suffering a high ankle sprain against the Avalanche on January 2, replacing Sebastian Aho.
Roy kept his top line intact, but mixed in the other three players by centering Matt Barzal on the second line with Anders Lee and Hudson Fassing.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau played on the third line alongside Pierre Engvall and Simon Holmstrom, while Kyle MacLean moved to the left wing on the fourth line along with Casey Cizikas and Cal Clutterbuck.
