ST. LOUIS — Ilya Sorokin had never had surgery before having back surgery this summer.
But to hear the goaltender tell it, he didn't mind at all that Sorokin's regular training program was interrupted because he didn't return to Islanders practice until the end of training camp.
“It's not difficult. It's just new,” Sorokin told the Post after Wednesday's practice at Enterprise Center. “This is the first time in my career that we don't have a preseason. … It was interesting and a good experience.”
Instead of on-ice work, Sorokin spends time working in the gym, watching videos with his goalie coach, and doing “mental exercises” so he can be as prepared as usual at the beginning of the season. He said he felt that there was something wrong with him.
Sorokin made his first start of the season against the Avalanche on Monday night and recorded the win, stopping 32 of 34 shots. The Islanders have not yet named a starter for Thursday's game against the Blues, but Roy said Sorokin will “probably” score for the second straight game.
This will be the second time Sorokin has started consecutive games since late March last season when Semyon Varlamov took over the No. 1 duties.
There was some concern that Sorokin would struggle due to the way he ended last season, coupled with offseason surgery. But at least his debut film was a huge success.
“I don't care about last season,” Sorokin said. “Last season in the past. I'm just going to focus on today and work on the little details that I can control. That's it.”
Roy declined to commit to a firm plan on how he will deploy the two netminders this season, but it wouldn't be surprising to see a more even split than the Islanders have used in the past. . Sorokin appeared in 62 games in 2022-23 and was playing at a similar pace before Varlamov took over as coach late last season.
After Wild goaltender Filip Gustafsson scored an empty-net goal against the Blues on Tuesday night, Islanders coach Patrick Roy said he was jealous because he's never been able to pull off the same thing in his career. I joked that I was doing it.
“It's not because I didn't try,” Roy said. “I tried it, but I think this kind of thing happens often.”
Former Islander and current Blues defenseman Nick Leddy missed Wednesday's practice and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
