![\"Ilya](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Ilya-Sorokin.jpg\")
Ilya Sorokin, making a glove save during a recent game, needs more help from the Islanders defense for the playoff stretch run. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\nAll year long, the Islanders have been outrunning their defensive analytics, so maybe it is not a shock that in two pivotal games against the Penguins and Sabres, the results started to catch up.<\/p>\n
The Islanders were not knocked below the playoff cutline with those two defeats, though they head into Friday\u2019s home match against the Flyers with minimal cushion over the Senators, Red Wings and Philadelphia. <\/p>\n
There are six games left in their season, and each of them is of the utmost importance.<\/p>\n
So, too, is making life easier for Ilya Sorokin, who is likely to start at least five of the last six, with Saturday\u2019s game in Carolina the only spot in which David Rittich might get a look. <\/p>\n
Sorokin\u2019s Vezina Trophy campaign could get over the line if the Islanders make the playoffs, and has been the single biggest reason for the disconnect between his club\u2019s expected and actual goals allowed. <\/p>\n
The goaltender cannot do it all by himself, though, and the Islanders can only learn that the hard way so many times.<\/p>\n
Ilya Sorokin, making a glove save during a recent game, needs more help from the Islanders defense for the playoff stretch run. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to do a good job in the inner area,\u201d coach Patrick Roy said. \u201cMeaning that when the puck\u2019s behind the net, make sure we get good body position. Make sure we got good sticks protecting that net front. I think our expected goals against was a little high [against the Sabres] because of those areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the puck goes to the goal line, they like to take a shot from the blue line, we like to front. But if you front, you need to block the shot. So we need to do a better job and maybe clean up a little bit here and there. You don\u2019t have to do a lot. I\u2019ll give you an example: When we played Pittsburgh, [Sidney] Crosby had two plays behind the next. He came in front, it\u2019s probably .40, .50 [xG]. So you clean up a couple goals like this, makes a big difference at the end of the night.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, the chances \u2014 and Roy pointed out it\u2019s only a few per game \u2014 that carry a high expected goals against do so because they are Grade-A looks. <\/p>\n
![\"Defenseman](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Scott-Mayfield.jpg\")
Defenseman Scott Mayfield said he believes the Islanders can clean up their defensive play for the stretch run. NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n
The analytics merely put a number on what everyone can see: Protect the inner slot and the areas below the hashes and the Islanders will cut out the opposing team\u2019s best chances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we can protect the middle a little bit better,\u201d Brayden Schenn said. \u201cShifts are gonna happen where you get caught in your own end. You have to force plays, keep it to the outside. I think all in all, we need to be a little better defensively, which ultimately leads to more offensively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Granted, that\u2019s easier said than done, and won\u2019t ever be perfect. But there\u2019s a lot of ground to cover between perfect and the last couple of games. For example, the Sabres\u2019 third goal Tuesday night, when no one picked up Peyton Krebs in transition, allowing him to streak in and get on the end of Alex Tuch\u2019s pass, is the sort of thing that shouldn\u2019t happen.<\/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
\u201cA little bit of over-back-checking,\u201d Scott Mayfield told The Post. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to collapse the house and there\u2019s a guy behind. But there\u2019s kind of been different things that have been happening. I think in the end, we all know the way we need to play.\u201d<\/p>\n
That would be aggressively, getting the puck in the offensive zone and forechecking it to keep it there. It\u2019s easiest to defend by playing offense, after all.<\/p>\n
As for when that\u2019s not working?<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the D-zone, it\u2019s all about closing quick,\u201d Mayfield said. \u201cI think when we let them get time and space, we kinda get a little mixed up on whose guy is who, it gets tough. When we\u2019re getting in there, closing: hit, pin, find a puck \u2014 I think that\u2019s when we\u2019re at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"All year long, the Islanders have been outrunning their defensive analytics, so maybe it is not a shock…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537676,"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-537675","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\/116338365761936566","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537675","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=537675"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537675\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}