What is Wrong with Islanders Goaltender Ilya Sorokin?

When goaltender Ilya Sorokin came to the New York Islanders, there was certainly a lot of hype.

In Sorokin, 30, the franchise thought they had found their man. Sorokin is an agile goaltender who controls his rebounds, can make game-saving stops, and win a lot of hockey games. These things were certainly noticeable in his first three seasons with the club.

Here is what he did in his first three years with the team:

- 2020-21: 13-6-0-3 with a 2.17 goals-against average, a .918 save percentage, and three shutouts.
- 2021-22: 26-18-0-8 with a 2.40 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage, and seven shutouts.
- 2022-23: 31-22-0-7 with a 2.34 goals-against average, a .924 save percentage, six shutouts, and was an NHL All-Star and a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender.

Based on the above, it seemed that the Islanders' goaltending problems had been solved. For the first time in years, the Islanders had a goaltender who could steal games, win consistently, and make the Islanders a tough team to beat.

The last few seasons, however, have been different for Sorokin. Let's take a look at his statistics from last season and the season before:

- 2023-24: 25-19-0-12 with a 3.01 goals-against average, a .909 save percentage, and two shutouts
- 2024-25: 30-24-0-6 with a 2.71 goals-against average, a .907 save percentage, and four shutouts.

To the naked eye, the numbers mentioned above might not look bad. With that said, his goals-against averages went up, his save percentages went down, and his number of shutouts decreased.

Unfortunately for Sorokin and the Islanders, his inconsistent play has been carried into his first two games this season. As of this writing (Monday, October 13), Sorokin is 0-3 with a 4.18 goals-against average and a .854 save percentage.

So, why the sudden downturn for Sorokin? For starters, the team in front of him is not great.

The Islanders do not score a lot of goals, they play poorly in their own end, they give up a lot of high-quality scoring chances (he has faced 25 high-danger shots, which is tied with Calgary Flames goaltender Dustin Wolf for most in the league), and more often than not, they leave Sorokin out to dry. Not exactly a recipe for success.

Secondly, Sorokin is struggling with his own game. He is getting beaten cleanly on shots he would normally stop, is giving up bad rebounds, is allowing soft goals, and is not coming up with the big saves that the team was accustomed to getting in his first three years in the league.

Sorokin's confidence is also probably an issue. When the Islanders were fighting for a playoff spot two seasons ago, head coach Patrick Roy turned to Semyon Varlamov instead of Sorokin for the stretch run, which resulted in the team getting into the postseason as a wild-card club.

There is no doubt that Sorokin has the talent to be a world-class goaltender. Heck, he is often considered one of the top goaltenders in the league, as he has elite skill.

With that said, Sorokin has yet to get back to that elite goaltending that was apparent in his first three seasons. If he is not able to do so in a hurry, it could end up being another season in which the Islanders find themselves missing the postseason.