ELMONT, NY — New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin has quickly risen through the ranks of the franchise, reaching a career milestone on Tuesday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Once the puck dropped to center ice to signal the start of the first period, Sorokin reached the milestone of 200 games played.
Sorokin fought late in the game to force overtime and made all three saves that came his way in the shootout to earn the victory.
He stopped Kris Letang from sending the people at the UBS Arena home happy:
The other four goaltenders to perform in 200 games for the Islanders are Billy Smith (674), Rick DiPietro (318), Chico Resch (282) and Kelly Hrudey (241).
Sorokin’s record in his 200 games is 98-68-31. This includes 18 shutouts, which puts him third behind Smith and Resch.
His Russian counterpart, Semyon Varlamov, could become the Islanders’ sixth goaltender to reach 200 games, as he has currently played 168 games with the team. Currently, Varlamov is in year two of a four-year contract.
Dennis Schneidler-Imagn images
Thomas Griess was one of the most recent Islanders goaltenders to reach 200 appearances, but fell just short. The now retired German goaltender played in 193 games for Long Island.
Sorokin was an NHL All-Star in 2023, the same year he finished second in the Vezina Trophy (2.34 GAA, .924 SV%).
So far, through eight starts, he owns a GAA of 2.35 with an SV% of 0.921.
One milestone achieved, many more to go. His eight-year contract extension has just begun.
