Pittsburgh – Now everything looks pretty quaint. It's a big preseason conversation about reducing Ilya Sorokin's workload.
In reality, there are ways to get in the way of things, and it's been quite a few months since I heard the phrase “back surgery,” right?
All involved will admit that it is not ideal that Sorokin has started 14 of the islanders' past 15 games.
But even if Marcus Hogberg collapses, he will find that he will only have two consecutive backs this season, and that the islanders will be asking Sorokin to play 49 of his last 58 games by a month from this year.
And if they make the playoffs, Sorokin is guaranteed to be a big reason for everything.
Quietly, he is also the islander's best player since the deal deadline, with a 0.930 save percentage in the last five starts heading for a sudden match against the Hot Penguins on Tuesday.
The islanders have little time to drop the game at this point.
So, with Sorokin off between games on Monday, he will likely be in the net against the Pittsburgh team beaten twice this season, including a mid-November shootout victory.
Even in Sunday's victory over the Panthers, when the Islanders played a strong defensive game for most of the night, Sorokin played a major role in playing towards the end, bringing five of his 22 saves in the final 1:34 regulation of Florida Skates.
“We thought we played well in front of him,” coach Patrick Roy said. “I think we gave us a zero chance in the first period. I think we had a zero chance the second time, four or five times, and third, five to six.”
And there are many opportunities – all of that have stopped.
It wasn't long ago before Sorokin steals the game after the game and leads the islanders to the playoffs.
However, goalkeepers play a key role as the islanders still think about how to effectively run the post-Nelson attacks after the block.
The islanders did not practice on Monday before flying to Pittsburgh.
