Ilya Sorokin steals the show against McDavid and the Oilers with fifth shutout

Ilya Sorokin delivered a vintage performance, stopping all 35 shots he faced to record his NHL-leading fifth shutout of the season as the New York Islanders edged the Edmonton Oilers 1–0 on Thursday night at Rogers Place.

Sorokin was sharp from the opening faceoff, tracking pucks cleanly through traffic and calmly handling Edmonton’s relentless pressure. When he wasn’t the difference, the goalposts helped — ringing twice on Oilers chances in a scoreless game that felt like it was waiting for one mistake to decide it.

That mistake came late in the third period.

With 6:18 remaining, Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl was called for tripping, giving the Islanders a power play that finally broke through. Calum Ritchie slid a slick backhand pass to Anthony Duclair, who ripped a one-timer past Connor Ingram for the game’s only goal.

Mathew Barzal picked up the secondary assist, marking the 500th point of his NHL career in his 576th game. "I'm more so a passer for my entire career," said Barzal. "A lot of credit to my teammates for putting the puck in the back of the net. Takes a lot of people, including my family and everybody, to get to a milestone like tonight"

Edmonton pressed hard in the final minutes. Draisaitl nearly tied it with just over 30 seconds left, but his shot clanged off the far post, preserving the shutout. The miss also snapped Connor McDavid’s 20-game point streak, which had placed him alongside Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey in Oilers franchise history.

Sorokin’s shutout was the 27th of his career, extending his Islanders franchise record, and New York’s first shutout in Edmonton since Game 1 of the 1983 Stanley Cup Final. “There's not enough words to describe how good that guy is,” Barzal said. “Day in day out for us, his commitment to being a pro, it's his entire life. On the road, you find him in the gym when we get into a new city or early in the morning on an off day, he's stretching and working out, and that's just who he is, man. He just ready to play at all times. And he really is the best in the world.”

The Islanders snapped a six-game losing streak in Edmonton, improved to 4–2 in their last six games, and left Rogers Place with two hard-earned points built on elite goaltending and timely execution.

The Isles next play Saturday afternoon in Calgary. Face-off is 3:00 PM EST.