EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — The first person who would tell you that Ilya Sorokin had a tough season would be Ilya Sorokin. Now he has an entire summer to stew on it, which is only motivating him more.
“I want to start skating Monday,” Sorokin said just days after his New York Islanders were eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “I want to come back next season with a fresh mind. I’ll be back… I have the confidence and motivation to be better,”
The star goaltender had a down year after finishing second in the Vezina Trophy voting in 2022-23. His save percentage dipped from .924 to .908 and his goals-against average jumped up from 2.34 to 3.01.
Sorokin was one of the most overworked goaltenders in the NHL during the first half of the season. From Oct. 14 to Jan. 23 (35 games), he faced an average of approximately 35 shots per game. That included a staggering 19-game stretch from Oct. 20 to Dec. 23 where he faced a total of 723 shots.
“You can’t control how many shots,” Sorokin said. “You just show up ready physically and mentally.”
From Dec. 23 to Jan. 23, he started 15 consecutive games while backup Semyon Varlamov was injured. He started to wear down, going 6-7-4 with a .902 save percentage from Jan. 2 to Feb. 24. He was 11-6-7 with a .912 save percentage before that.
All the while he worked behind one of the worst penalty kills in NHL history and a defense that was transitioning from an all-too-timid unit under Lane Lambert to a more offensively-aggressive bunch under current head coach, Patrick Roy.
“I think it’s a lot of factors,” Sorokin said when looking back at his season. “There were hard parts in January, February. A lot of games… It’s small details and I should control these details. When you lose, it’s like a snowball effect.”
Varlamov caught fire at the end of the season and wrenched the starting gig away from Sorokin heading into the playoffs. After New York dropped the first two games, Roy gave Sorokin the crease for Game 3, but he did not last two full periods. He yielded three goals on 14 shots and was pulled.
The formula to get back, in theory, sounds simple when Sorokin says it. It is all about making changes to “the little details,” while “believing in my system and my game.”
That is why he was able to continue working toward getting back on track when things were not always going his way — something that struck a chord with his very good friend in Varlamov.
“I was proud of him, no matter what on the good days and bad days,” Varlamov said. “He’s an outstanding goalie. To me, he’s in the top five goalies in the league always. I’m sure he’ll continue to play great for this organization, for this team. He just needs to reset mentally and get away from hockey and not think about hockey. Make sure you have a good summer of training and come back refreshed and feeling good physically.”
For more on Ilya Sorokin and the Islanders, visit AMNY.com
