MONTREAL — At the 11:20 mark of the third period after allowing his sixth goal of the night, New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin left the ice.
The No. 1 netminder had made 26 saves, but in a game that was not going to end in the Islanders’ favor, head coach Patrick Roy made the move to give Sorokin a breather as he’ll be back in between the pipes for the second leg of the club’s back-to-back, a pivotal Sunday night showdown against the third-place Columbus Blue Jackets.
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“[I pulled him] because he’s playing tomorrow,” Roy said postgame. “It’s as simple as that. We have to regroup for tomorrow, and Ilya will be in front of the net. These are two big games for us, and tomorrow is a big one as well. They’re all big games, actually, but that’s the main reason why we did that, to rest [Sorokin].
Sorokin has yet to play both legs of a back-to-back this season.
Puck drop between the Islanders and the Blue Jackets comes your way at 7 PM ET live from UBS Arena and can be watched on MSGSN.
The Islanders are one point back of the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 12 games to go.
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