Ilya Sorokin building back confidence despite NY Islanders shaky play in front of him

Defenseman Matthew Schaefer was announced as the first star of the game following last night's 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks at UBS Arena, and although Patrick Roy called it his best overall game, the New York Islanders head coach shared a difference of opinion with the media during the post-game.

“Ilya was the star of the game,” Roy said, pointing to a series of first-period stops that kept New York from collapsing early in a game he openly admitted was not clean. “I thought he made some really good saves, especially in the first period where we were not at our best. I thought he kept us in and gave us a chance to come out of the first with three goals.”

The Islanders again won again without their best structure — too many exits forced through pressure, too many pucks lost in the neutral zone, too many chances against from the slot — but Sorokin was there to erase mistakes. “He kept us in it and gave us a chance to win,” Roy said. The Sharks finished with 36 shots (most allowed this season) and the Isles had 21 giveaways.

The larger story is how the goaltender looks since the reset. Sorokin followed his penalty-shot save in Ottawa with another night of composed work. Roy highlighted the details that had slipped in earlier starts — rebound control, composure, game management whistles — all tightening. “He looked confident,” Roy said. “The compete is there. He’s been working hard in practice and it shows.”

Roy made clear the team must play cleaner in front of him, but the message on the goaltender was unequivocal: belief remains intact. “Confidence is a big deal for a goalie,” he said. “I hope he gets a lot of confidence from that third period in Ottawa. He should.”

Winning without clean habits is not sustainable. Winning while your No. 1 finds his game again is the kind of thing that can change a season. What separates teams that finish the season on the outside of the playoffs and teams that find their way are games like Tuesday night, when your goaltender can play well enough to overcome the defensive game of the team in front of him, especially against a team that the standings say you should beat. Sorokin did just that last night.