Ilya Sorokin is not pretending to be happy with the way he’s started the season.
Islanders coach Patrick Roy, however, was not pointing fingers at his goaltender after Monday’s 5-2 loss to the Jets in which Sorokin allowed four goals for the third straight game, including a soft shot from defenseman Logan Stanley just 14 seconds after the Islanders had made it a 2-1 game.
“I got a lot of trust in him,” Roy said. “A lot of trust in him. I know he took the blame for a couple goals, but on my side, he’s got a lot of trust.”
Roy indicated Sunday that Sorokin would likely start a fourth straight game Thursday against the Oilers, meaning that unless the plan changes, the earliest action backup David Rittich could see will be Saturday in Ottawa.
Sorokin has built up plenty of capital with the Isles, but has just an .854 save percentage over his first three games, all losses, along with a 4.18 GAA.
“I feel like a couple not-perfect plays by me,” Sorokin said. “I should do better in every moment.”
The Russian affirmed that his confidence remains high, but did not beat around the bush regarding both his and the Islanders’ poor start to the season.
“It’s been a tough couple games,” he said. “Not a good start for us. Three games, we lose [all of them].”
The defense in front of Sorokin has not given him much help, bleeding frequent odd-man rushes and struggling to clear out the net-front area.
“Each game it’s something different, whether it’s a guy behind you, turnover on the blue line, you can point at guys getting beat out of the corner, stuff like that,” Scott Mayfield said. “Every time it’s different. Mistakes are gonna happen, too.
“It’s part of the game, but it’s jumping right on it, making sure there aren’t multiple mistakes. That always leads to nothing good. Right now we just gotta be a little more detailed, fix those.”
Cal Ritchie was taken off injured reserve and loaned to AHL Bridgeport. Roy said the move was to ensure the top prospect gets ample playing time.
“He’s gonna be probably the No. 1 center down there,” Roy said. “He’s gonna play big minutes, he’s gonna play a lot. He’s gonna play PK, power play. We are so impressed with him, so happy, the way he played in the training camp. I think it’ll be just good for him.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
