When reporters filed into the visitor’s dressing room at Madison Square Garden after the Islanders’ 5-0 win, Ilya Sorokin was deep in conversation with Sergei Naumovs.
After Sorokin’s first shutout of the season, it can be presumed the talk was more congratulatory than anything else.
Coincidence or not, Sorokin’s performance has shot upward since Naumovs was elevated to the Islanders’ goalie coach role six games into the season, and Saturday, when he turned aside 33 shots against the Rangers, marked the best the Islanders’ netminder has played in a long time.
“I think he’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. “We made the goalie coach change — I think he’s very comfortable with Sergei. They seem to connect really well. It’s good for the team, good for him.”
Naumovs has plenty of experience with Sorokin, having been his coach at CSKA Moscow in the KHL, as well as his personal goalie coach.
Doing it in the NHL, though, is different.
“It was six years ago, that’s a long time. And we don’t have [practice] time like in the KHL,” Sorokin said. “So it’s more games here and we try to use practice time well and we can do this.”
Certainly, Sorokin is making the most of the practice time he has. He’s been noticeably more aggressive in his crease since the change and was terrific in tracking the puck Saturday. His reaction time, always a strong point, was as quick as ever.
During the first period, with the Rangers all over the Islanders, Sorokin kept his team in it, and during the third, as the Islanders defended a three-goal lead, he never allowed the door open for a comeback.
It was a far cry from the Sorokin of a month ago, who struggled through his first four starts looking like a shell of himself.
“Not really change,” he said of his mindset. “It’s hard to say. Just continue working, maybe on small details. But total is the same.”
Islanders coach Patrick Roy put his lines and pairs in a blender Saturday.
Mathew Barzal was back at center between Jonathan Drouin and Simon Holmstrom, while Bo Horvat was with Emil Heineman and Kyle Palmeri. Anders Lee, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Anthony Duclair comprised the third line, while Maxim Tsyplakov, Casey Cizikas and Cal Ritchie made up the fourth.
Matthew Schaefer was on the top pair for the first time in his career next to Ryan Pulock.
Adam Pelech played next to Tony DeAngelo, and Alexander Romanov was on Scott Mayfield’s left.
Tsyplakov got back in the lineup for the first time since Oct. 30 in Carolina, having been a healthy scratch for the past four games.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
