A lot of things had to start falling into place at once for the Islanders to win seven of their last nine games and finally start to get their season going in the right direction.
One underrated factor is Marcus Hogberg's emergence as a solid backup goaltender.
Hogberg not only played well in his own game, starting four games in January and posting an excellent .946 save percentage, but he also played well as the Islanders gave Ilya Sorokin some much-needed time off at times. It was given to me.
With Semyon Varlamov injured and Hogberg still lacking confidence in manager Patrick Roy, Sorokin's influence on the game was immeasurable, as he started all but one game in December. Ta.
- Sorokin in December: 5-6-1, .873 save percentage, 3.45 GAA, better than expected minus-8.16 goals saved, according to Evolving Hockey.
- According to Evolving Hockey, Sorokin in January: 5-2-0, .930 save percentage, 2.00 GAA, better than expected 5.67 goals saved.
This doesn't seem like just a coincidence, especially considering Sorokin's injury at the end of last season. This appeared to be primarily a product of the workload induced by Varlamov's injury in January.
So if Hogberg's upper-body injury, which he sustained in Saturday's win over the Hurricanes before overtime, turns out to be serious, it could affect more than just the backup goaltender.
The Islanders did not practice on Sunday after back-to-back games, so there was no update on Hogberg's status.
Sorokin was rested Saturday until at least 2 hours and 3 minutes of overtime, so he could start Tuesday against the Avalanche anyway — most likely Thursday in Philadelphia. –It is thought that.
But if Hogberg needs to miss time, Sorokin's workload could quickly swell. The Islanders' in-house options to replace Hogberg aren't ideal.
Since Hogberg was called up, AHL Bridgeport goaltenders Jakub Skalek and Henrik Tikkanen have posted save percentages of .898 and .845, respectively.
Hunter Miska, recently signed from Dynamo Moscow as another AHL option, has a .908 save percentage in the KHL this season and has allowed eight goals on 58 shots in two games so far in the minors.
Skarek has received emergency calls in the past, but it's unclear whether he plans to do so again. Either way, it's hard to imagine any of these three beating out Sorokin for an NHL start unless something dramatic happens.
Sorokin has played in back-to-back games before, so that could be a possibility for next weekend's two games in Florida.
But it's clear that Sorokin's game suffers from that kind of workload.
Varlamov has not yet practiced with the team, but it seems unlikely that he will return in the near future.
So the Islanders are wondering if this is an injury that Hogberg can recover from quickly, or just a few days after bringing up Tony DeAngelo out of nowhere, Lou Lamoriello pulls another rabbit out of his hat and gives the Islanders a 2-0 lead in the crease. I hope that you can handle the situation.
