While everything has gone wrong for the Islanders this past month, one thing has been clearly and completely true. That is Ilya Sorokin.
In the second period Saturday night, the goaltender was once again a force for the Islanders.
Then, late in the third inning, the game seemed decided, but the Islanders collapsed, losing a two-run lead, Stephen Noesen tied it late in regulation, and Jack Hughes won the game in overtime before the Devils lost. They lost 4-3.
They spent most of the night under heavy attack from a skilled and talented Devils lineup early in this game, struggling to control the puck and mostly content to keep the Devils on the outside. I was there.
It may not be the way they want to play, but it's not all that different from how they established themselves with four wins out of five despite five regulars being sidelined with injuries.
In some ways, it's a necessary strategy.
But Saturday's game required repeated goaltender bailouts, including Sorokin splitting to stop Hughes late in the second period following an unforgivable turnover by Grant Hutton deep in the zone. It wasn't as bad as it was.
That allowed the Islanders to go into the third period tied at 1 despite having a bad game most of the night, and it looked like they were poised for a win.
Dennis Cholowski broke the deadlock, wandering around the frame and scoring a feed from Simon Holmstrom at 10:29 of the third to make it 2-1.
This was Holmstrom's second goal of the game, his first multi-point game of the season, and the floodgates opened from there. Just two minutes later, Brock Nelson converted a feed off a Kyle Palmieri rush to make it 3-1.
The Islanders appeared to survive the first two terms to thrive in the third.
But that wasn't the end for the Devils, as Dawson Mercer scored off a centering feed from Cotter with 4:27 left in regulation.
As expected when these two teams play, the Devils tied the score at 6-5 when Norsen banked the puck in from Hutton.
Finally, in overtime, Hughes got behind the Islanders on a rush and sent the puck in front of Sorokin for a blowout loss.
Despite New Jersey's constant pressure in the first period, Holmstrom scored first to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead, finishing off a run past Jacob Markstrom and just an inch from Kyle MacLean. I set the feed within the frame.
But the Islanders' lead belied the flow of the game, with Sorokin regularly calling the action and making key stops on Nico Isier's rushing chances and especially Nosen's tip.
Sorokin finally fell to Hughes' older brother 40 seconds into the Devils' power play, and Hughes hit a snap shot from the left circle through traffic 5:57 into the second for the win.
Trying to play with half their defensive corps, the Islanders were unable to gain a foothold against a deep and skilled forward group, especially with the makeshift bottom pair of Hutton and Cholowski out of action. It seems so.
Isaiah George's arrival is a breath of fresh air on the blue line, but it's true that a team without five regulars and three defensemen will have a hard time clearing the zone on some nights.
That's no excuse, especially when the goaltender is as active as Sorokin was on Saturday.
