Livescore
The New York Islanders’ win over the Buffalo Sabres on Friday saw them stem the tide.
Despite being down Mathew Barzal before puck drop and losing Mike Reilly and Adam Pelech during the game, the team got timely goals and big saves from Ilya Sorokin to keep themselves ahead for the 4-3:
Related: Shorthanded Islanders Take Care Of Business, Beat Buffalo Sabres 4-3
Out of the 32 saves Sorokin made on the night, one particularly important save came in the form of a penalty shot against Jason Zucker.
A questionable call, to say the least, put the spotlight on Sorokin, but he came up large, stoning the Sabres forward with left flipper:
After Sorokin’s save, he is now three-for-three against penalty shots in his career, per MSGSN’s Eric Hornick.
Sorokin’s first penalty shot save came on Jan. 23, 2023, against the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road.
Michael Bunting took the attempt in the second period of the game, but the netminder was up to the task, stopping him with the right pad:
The second came in the final game of the 2023-24 regular season against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Facing Sidney Crosby in the dying seconds, Crosby tried to beat Sorokin on the backhand glove side but was denied:
“I don’t want to explain [how they got] the penalty shot, but he’s one of the best goalies in the game,” Islanders head coach Patrick Roy said. “There’s a reason for that, and he made that big save there.”
While Sorokin has a tendency to struggle in the shootout at times — he’s allowed 22 goals on 37 shots for a .627 SV% — when the ice is cleared for a penalty shot, he has been more than equal to the task.
Sorokin did allow two goals after the attempt, but he held the fort down down for a 32-save victory.
Through six starts, Sorokin has stopped 155 of 167 shots he’s faced, good enough for a 2.00 GAA and a .928 SV%.
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