ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Islanders are in playoff contention, which means they could look to Ilya Sorokin to start in net almost every night.
On Sunday, coach Semyon Varlamov gave Sorokin a rare night off on the front lines of back-to-back games, a rare violation of that rule and the first time Sorokin had sat out in more than two weeks.
Varlamov then stopped 22 of 23 shots in a 6-1 win over the Islanders, earning him his first win since Dec. 13 against the Ducks.
“I think it’s been about three months now. It’s crazy,” Varlamov said. “We had a match, but unfortunately it didn’t go well. It feels great to win.
“When you’re sitting and not playing, you’re overthinking. And when you get a chance to play, you try not to put any extra pressure on yourself. So I wasn’t able to do that today. I got off to a good start, made some saves and had a lot of help and support from the team in terms of scoring.”
The Islanders personally have a “pretty good idea” of what their two-goalie rotation will look like for the rest of the season, coach Patrick Roy said. However, that can always change depending on injuries and who’s watching.
“I think you have to follow your heart,” said Roy, who played in more than 60 games in goal during his playing days and played every year. “You have to have feelings. If Ilya is starting to get tired, it’s time for Varley to play more games. That happened before the All-Star break. Two games in a row for Varley in Montreal and Florida I played.
“We have two very good goalkeepers. There’s no reason why we can’t feel comfortable using one of these if needed. Ilya is playing very well right now. He gives us more He forced us to play.”
Varlamov admitted that was on his mind a bit after going so long without a win, due in part to limited playing time and an injury that kept him sidelined for three weeks in January. .
“It’s never easy [to turn that off]” he told the Post. “Think in your head until you win. We’re all human and we’re all thinking and that’s normal. We all have emotions and we’re all about the team and winning.” I’m concerned about things like that. Of course, I wanted to get the win as soon as possible.”
Now he can rest in peace.
Cal Clutterbuck’s goal at the 18:12 mark of the third meant every Islander had scored in their current six-game winning streak.
