{"id":395010,"date":"2026-01-07T06:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/395010\/"},"modified":"2026-01-07T06:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T06:10:12","slug":"ilya-sorokin-sets-islanders-record-with-26th-career-shutout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/395010\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilya Sorokin sets Islanders record with 26th career shutout"},"content":{"rendered":"

It feels safe to say that Ilya Sorokin did not need any lead time before returning to form off a lower-body injury.<\/p>\n

Sorokin, in his first start after missing seven games, reminded the Islanders exactly what he means to them in Tuesday\u2019s 9-0 beatdown of the Devils<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The netminder stopped 45 shots for his 26th career shutout, breaking the club\u2019s franchise record while its previous holder, Chico Resch, was in the building as the Devils radio color analyst.<\/p>\n

\"IlyaIlya Sorokin makes one of his 45 saves during the Islanders\u2019 9-0 blowout win over the Devils on Jan. 6, 2025 at UBS Arena. Dennis Schneidler-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good memories, yes,\u201d said Sorokin, who tends to downplay individual achievements even more than most hockey players. \u201cBut first of all, it\u2019s teamwork. Without teammates I have nothing, so thanks guys for their help. Big point for this record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorokin, who aggravated an injury from two years ago before the Christmas break, said that he was \u201ca little nervous\u201d for his first game back. <\/p>\n

He had plenty of work early on to set his mind right, though. Ironically, the Devils dominated possession and the shot count all game long, but the disparity in goaltending \u2014 Jacob Markstrom had a brutal night in New Jersey\u2019s crease \u2014 was the main factor in how the score became so lopsided.<\/p>\n

\u201cFeel a little bit not in my game the first couple minutes,\u201d Sorokin said. \u201cBut after [that], shot by shot, started to feel confidence. Guys helped me, scored a lot. It was an interesting game.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Rittich did an excellent job backing up Sorokin during his absence, with a .911 save percentage across seven games. <\/p>\n

\"IlyaIlya Sorokin makes a glove save during the Islanders\u2019 win over the Devils. Robert Sabo for New York Post<\/p>\n

Sorokin, though, left no doubt at all on Tuesday that he is picking up right where he left off in a season that ought to have him in early Vezina Trophy consideration.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s just so solid,\u201d Mathew Barzal said. \u201cYou watch him tonight, he made some saves that were just insane. Late in the game, Jersey trying to break the shutout \u2014 he doesn\u2019t take a second off that guy, honestly. He works as hard as anybody I\u2019ve ever seen.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn the ice from Long Island\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Islanders by Ethan Sears, a weekly Sports+ exclusive.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cDay in, day out, off days, practice, last guy at the rink. He\u2019s inspiring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Matthew Schaefer said he signed with Tom Brady\u2019s apparel brand, Nobull, and had a recent FaceTime call with the former quarterback.<\/p>\n

Islanders prospect Victor Eklund was named Player of the Game in Sweden\u2019s World Junior Championship final win over Czechia, recording a goal and assist. <\/p>\n

He finished the tournament with two goals and five assists.<\/p>\n

Team Czechia\u2019s Olympic roster named Tuesday morning did not include Rittich.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It feels safe to say that Ilya Sorokin did not need any lead time before returning to form…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5110],"tags":[5,277,122,3328,159,5190,5189,4,43],"class_list":{"0":"post-395010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-islanders","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-ilya-sorokin","10":"tag-islanders","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-islanders","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkislanders","15":"tag-nhl","16":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/115852334019593321","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}