NY Islanders G Ilya Sorokin erased all doubt that he was healthy in season debut

It may be too early to tell if New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin will return to his Vezina finalist form this season, but on Monday night, he showed that he is healthy enough to resume his role as the team's No. 1 goaltender. In his first action of the season, Sorokin stopped 32 shots in the Islanders' 6-2 win over the Colorado Avalance at Pepsi Arena, erasing all doubt that he is back at 100% and ready to handle a sufficient workload.

After allowing a goal just 1:01 into the first period, Sorokin and the Isles rebounded against a beat-up Avs team to score five unanswered goals to secure their first win. The Islanders dominated play for most of the first 40 minutes, but he was up to the task when the home team scored a power-play goal and made a push in the third.

"In the third I thought he was outstanding,” head coach Patrick Roy said of Sorokin who stopped 16 of 17 shots in the final period. “In the first two periods we didn't give them too much, he made some good saves here and there but in the third had some really good chances. He was really solid and seemed really confident out there, which is good for us."

Behind the scenes teammates have seen first-hand how hard Sorokin has worked to get himself ready this early into the season after back surgery this summer. It was a different off-season for the Russian netminder on a few levels. In addition to rehabbing his injury, he was also working to address the small details that plagued his 2023-24 season, including positioning and rebound control.

Making his season debut, he didn't show any rust for a player that missed of training camp. Better yet, he looked in control within the crease while flashing his trademark split in his first highlight reel save of the season. Sorokin gave the Islanders a boost on Monday night and appears ready to provide them the same boost throughout the season.