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With Semyon Varlamov injured to start the year, the New York Islanders have fully relied on Ilya Sorokin between the pipes this season.

Sorokin has started all seven of the Islanders’ games so far, including a back-to-back. While he started slow, surrendering 10 goals in his first two games, he’s been excellent since, posting a .963 save percentage and allowing just six goals in the last five games. He also currently sits seventh in the NHL in goals saved above average, according to Hockey Reference.

While we still have a small sample size of Sorokin’s work – considering he’s only played a total of 36 NHL games (including both regular season and playoffs) – he’s been counted on to take the maximum workload possible this year. The Islanders are still averaging less than 2.5 goals for per game so far and while the team’s looked much better lately, Sorokin has still been extremely important to the Islanders’ success.

While we know Sorokin isn’t going to be the outright go-to guy with Varlamov back, it’s a great sign that he’s been able to handle the high workload. Last season, Sorokin didn’t play more than seven games in a single month while this year, he played seven games just from October 14-30.

The reality is Varlamov is now 33 years old and with Sorokin at just 26 years old and now on a new three-year contract, Sorokin is being positioned to take over as the team’s long-term starter. We’ve seen he can handle the pressure of the postseason – posting a .922 save percentage in seven playoff games last season – and seeing him put together a series of strong games on the road when the team is counting on him is a great sign as well.

The Islanders have rebounded over their last few games but a key reason they’ve been able to do so is the play of Ilya Sorokin. While the Islanders will almost certainly use a tandem approach for the remainder of the season, Sorokin’s play shows that’s a luxury for the team, not a necessity.



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