Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin Pulled After 7 Goals; Status Unclear Vs. Sabres

ELMONT, NY -- On Monday night, in the New York Islanders' first game of their back-to-back, starting netminder Ilya Sorokin was chased from his goal after allowing seven goals on 29 shots in an eventual 8-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

He played 47:54.

The loss was a damning one, given that the Islanders could have padded their lead for second place in the Metropolitan Division to three points with seven games to go.

Instead, the Islanders watched the Penguins leap over them in the standings by one point and a game in hand, dropping them to third place, with the Columbus Blue Jackets just one point back in the second wild-card spot. 

Sorokin had only been pulled once this season, in the finale of a three-game road trip, a 7-3 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, March 21. 

He allowed six goals on 26 shots through 50:47 minutes. 

That game was also the first of a back-to-back, with Roy citing that pulling Sorokin was to keep him fresh for a pivotal Sunday night game against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

The move paid off as Sorokin stopped all 26 shots that came his way for a critical 1-0 shutout win. 

Will Roy do the same against a Buffalo Sabres team that has just one win in their last four games?

That's likely -- but not confirmed. 

"We're going to talk about this one and see where we're at," head coach Patrick Roy said postgame. "I mean, I haven't talked with Sergei (Naumovs) or even Ilya after the game just to see how he feels and what their thought are. We'll let you know tomorrow who will play against Buffalo."

If the Islanders had beaten the Penguins, one would think David Rittich would have received the start for Buffalo, potentially his last start of the season, with Sorokin getting both games of the back-to-back -- Philadelphia on Friday at home and then Carolina in Raleigh on Saturday. 

This Buffalo game is a tremendous opportunity for the Islanders to rebound from what was an atrocity of a second period at UBS Arena. That includes Sorokin, who probably doesn't want to sit three days before getting another crack at it. 

"We know what we did. We know what's wrong. We know what we need to do to play the right way. And that's regrouping mentally for tomorrow," Ryan Pulock said postgame. "That's all that matters right now, is regrouping for tomorrow. Understand what went wrong. Understand what we did. I feel like that's not us. Obviously, it was a big game, and we didn't do it the right way, but tomorrow's a chance to make up for it."

We'll be talking with Roy at 5:35 to get the latest on his starting goaltender and any lineup changes ahead of their 7 PM ET puck drop. 

The Islanders are 9-3-1 on the second legs of back-to-backs this season. Sorokin is 5-1-0 and has not faced the Sabres this season.