Late Injury to Marcus Hogberg leads to NY Islanders statistical anomalies

Backup goaltender Marcus Hogberg played well in his biggest test of the season, making 24 saves. but his night ended abruptly after 60 minutes due to a right-hand injury on Saturday night. The injury occurred during the third period but worsened as the period went on. When the regulation buzzer sounded, he skated over to the bench and was removed from the game, meaning he wasn't in the crease for Brock Nelson's game-winner that lifted the New York Islanders to their fourth straight victory with a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes at UBS Arena.

The unusual circumstances that led to Ilya Sorokin entering the game at the start of overtime led to several rare occurrences in Islanders history. According to MSG Networks statistician Eric Hornick, Hogberg became the second goalie in team history to play at least 60 minutes without getting a decision  (Evgeny Nabokov 64:45 on 10/27/2011 vs. Pittsburgh (SOL). In that game, Nabokov left 15 seconds before the start of a shootout due to a lower-body injury and was replaced by Rick DiPietro.

Higberg's exit made a winner out of Sorokin, who played the fewest amount of time (2:03) to earn a win in club history; the previous record was 2:24 by Wade Dubielewicz on 1/4/2006 vs. Florida. In that game, Garth Snow exited after a collision in front of the net in the final minute. Mark Parrish won the game 2:15 into overtime at the Nassau Coliseum. Technically, Sorokin has now allowed one goal or fewer in three straight appearances.

Sorokin is the first goalie in team history to win a game when making one or fewer saves. The previous record was two saves by Thomas Greiss when he entered a game with 9:40 left to play on Mar. 5, 2019, versus the Ottawa Senators and only needed to make two saves. Greiss replaced Robin Lehner in the third period with the game tied at 4-4 and was only required to make two saves for the remainder of regulation and overtime. The Isles went on to win the game in a shootout, but Greiss isn't credited with saves coming from the skills competition at the end of overtime.