NY Islanders G Ilya Sorokin captures 100th career win with 24 save performance

It took five tries, the New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin picked up his 100th career win on Saturday night, stopping 24 shots in the Islander's 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues at UBS Arena.

After being denied the milestone win in his previous four starts, he becomes the sixth goaltender in team history to reach the century mark in victories. Not surprisingly, none of this was on Sorokin's mind before or after the game. “Nothing,” the Russian goaltender said when asked what the win meant. “I hear about this, but I’m just focused on my game and the team.”

Sorokin improved to 5-5-3 on the season with a 2.52 GAA. After a disappointing 2023-24 campaign and recovering from back surgery during the summer, he's rebounded and appears more than capable of carrying the load again for the Islanders throughout the season.

His teammates and coaching staff were willing to expand on the milestone victory. “He’s making key saves at the right moments, and tonight we fortunately scored enough goals for him,” head coach Patrick Roy said. “100 wins is a nice achievement.” Roy finished his HOF career with 551 wins.

Sorokin's next win will tie former teammate Thomas Griess for fifth all-time. Hall-of-Famer and four-time Stanley Cup champion Billy Smith tops the list with 304, followed by Glenn 'Chico' Resch (157), Rick DiPietro (130), and Kelly Hrudey (106). Barring injury, the 29-year-old, in the first season of his eight-year contract extension, should pass everyone but Smith by the time his career on Long Island is over.

“He probably should have gotten it a while ago with some of the performances he’s had,” leading goal scorer Kyle Palmieri said after the game. “The opportunities he’s given us to win hockey games, we’re so happy for him.”