Ilya Sorokin was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week on Monday, and deservedly so after he had an otherworldly .960 save percentage through three wins over Tampa, Colorado and Tampa.
The goaltender’s past couple of seasons were not bad, but it is another thing entirely to have him going like this. We saw it Saturday night in Tampa, a game in which 18 Islanders skaters had little to give on the road, spent the night getting shelled and won 2-0 anyway.
According to Evolving Hockey, the 4.54 goals saved above expected Sorokin produced that night was the fourth-highest of his career; the three better games all came in 2022-23, when Sorokin’s heroics should have won him the Vezina Trophy.
The last few weeks have felt a little like that season for the Islanders, in part because of Sorokin. And in part because of the circumstances around the goalie. Which is to say, he cannot keep doing this by himself.