Rapid Reaction: Islanders Lose 1-0 Nail-Biter to Avalanche (SO)

DENVER– The New York Islanders got outstanding goaltending by Ilya Sorokin, but the offense did not provide enough chances as they fell 1-0 to the Colorado Avalanche in a shootout.

LINES:

Anders Lee-Mat Barzal-Oliver Wahlstrom
Josh Bailey-Brock Nelson-Anthony Beauvillier
Zach Parise-Jean-Gabriel Pageau-Simon Holmstrom
Matt Martin-Casey Cizikas-Hudson Fasching

Robin Salo-Ryan Pulock
Alexander Romanov-Scott Mayfield
Sebastian Aho-Noah Dobson

Semyon Varlamov
Ilya Sorokin

GOALS:

Evan Rodrigues scored the only goal of the contest, as his shootout goal served as the winner.

Islanders Offense Was Lacking

After a strong start to the contest, with 11 shots in the first period, the New York Islanders were held to just 15 for the remainder of the contest. They passed up some shooting lanes and just did not capitalize on their limited chances.

Avalanche netminder Alexandar Georgiev played well, with a few big stops but he only faced a total of 26 shots on the night and wasn’t particularly busy after the first period.

“I thought we generated some, but I thought we, at times, we passed up some shots, which we can’t do but certainly, we got ourselves into areas at times, and as far as they’re concerned, they have a high powered offensive team and I thought we battled hard,” Lambert said.

Sorokin Back to Being Sorokin

New York Islanders forward Ilya Sorokin had struggled mightily heading into his start against the Colorado Avalanche. He had lost five straight starts and looked anything like the Sorokin we saw at the beginning of the year.

And with his counterpart Semyon Varlamov was dominating but sidelined with an injury (day-to-day, lower-body) it was imperative for New York that Sorokin found his game.

Against the Avalanche, Sorokin did just that as he denied all 46 through regulation before stopping one of two in the shootout.

His best save of the night came on Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard, as Sorokin stretched out to get his left toe on the shot. Sorokin’s aggressiveness was the reason he was able to make the save. He’d struggled to be aggressive over his previous outings, and if he stayed back in his crease, that puck likely founds the back of the net.

Makar’s Sportsmanship

In the final few minutes of the first period against the Colorado Avalanche, it seemed like New York Islanders forward Mathew Barzal was headed to the penalty box after he tripped Cale Makar. The referee had his hand up, and everything and even blew his whistle when the Islanders gained possession.

However, Barzal did not go to the box as Makar told the referee, so it seemed that he fell on his own

But the referees changed their call, ruling no penalty, as Cale Makar seemed to tell the official that he fell on his own and Mathew Barzal was innocent:

GOTTA SEE IT: Makar’s Sportsmanship Negates Barzal Pending Penalty

Up next: The New York Islanders face the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, with puck drop at 7 PM ET.