RALEIGH, N.C. — When Ilya Sorokin stood in the tunnel after being ejected in Game 3 against the Hurricanes, all he could think about was the three goals he had allowed.
“That’s it,” he said Monday. “There’s nothing else.”
It’s been some time since Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Hurricanes, so Sorokin was able to put his dismal performance behind him and look forward.
But even for someone who doesn’t dwell on the past, no matter how fortunate, this was a little different.
“My memory must be poor,” Sorokin said in his first public speech since Thursday. “When I think about all my goals for a long time, I get a little crazy.”
Still, he said Game 3 was “historic.”
He said Sorokin, goalie coach Piero Greco and goaltending director Mitch Cone reviewed game tape and there was nothing they hadn’t already worked on.
This season has been a trying one for Sorokin. His form has hardly wavered during his first three seasons in the NHL, or even in the KHL before that.
For reasons that aren’t entirely clear, his consistency finally faltered this season, with his save percentage dropping from .924 to .908 in 2022-23.
The Islanders waited for the problem to resolve itself, but stopped waiting when Semyon Varlamov replaced Sorokin in starting goal at the end of the year.
“It’s a routine thing that we do every day,” Sorokin said. “These things you have to control. It’s hand position and body position. It’s all about positioning. Hand position, too.”
Varlamov, who is scheduled to start Game 5 against Carolina on Tuesday night, will be in net for the rest of the playoffs.
But as for what happens next, coach Patrick Roy still believes Sorokin can become a star.
“In 1986, the Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup and a rookie goaltender won MVP,” Roy said, referring to himself. “The next year he sits on the bench. It happens to everyone. That’s why I say this is called a career. There are ups and downs, but that’s how you bounce back.
“Ilya is a smart kid. Probably going through a more difficult time, he hasn’t forgotten how to play in goal. And I know he’s been working hard in practice. So if something happens, I can count on him. There’s no doubt in my mind. But well, it happened to him. What do you know? We will grow from this. It is because of situations like this that we need to strive for it every day. I will give it to you.”
Given that Sorokin begins an eight-year contract extension next season, this is an important show of confidence from the head coach, who voiced public criticism of the goaltender earlier this season.
Roy did not say anything to Sorokin about the third game, but Sorokin replied that there was no need.
Although Roy is a Hall of Fame goalie, his job is as a head coach, not a goalie coach, and he said from the beginning that he didn’t want to infringe on Greco’s territory.
This is a fine line for anyone, but especially for Roy given his family background.
He may not be working directly with the goaltenders, but he’s still a big voice in the room and the biggest voice speaking on behalf of the organization every day.
What he says and thinks about goalies matters, more so than most coaches who aren’t Hall of Famers at the position.
Sorokin, like everyone else, is working hard to recover from the Game 3 debacle. And unless Varlamov gets hurt, the Islanders could give him a summer to recover.
They hope that’s enough to get him back on track.
“It’s a new day,” Sorokin said. “What’s in the past remains in the past. You can’t change this. You can just focus on today and keep working. That’s it.”
Matt Martin (lower body) did not practice Monday and will not play Tuesday, coach Patrick Roy said.
The Islanders have not yet decided who will fill Martin’s fourth-row left side, but Simon Holmstrom skated there on Monday.
The Hurricanes made some line changes in practice, with Jordan Staal centering the second line between Teuvo Teravainen and Seth Jarvis. Evgeny Kuznetsov skates between Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Stefan Noesen. and a fourth line of Martin Necas, Jack Drury and Jordan Martinook.
Roy said Varlamov is scheduled to start in Game 5 against the Islanders.
