Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin admits a little luck helped him shut out Oilers

The New York Islanders narrowly defeated the Edmonton Oilers 1-0 on the road on Thursday night at Rogers Place, leaning heavily on Ilya Sorokin. The Russian goaltender stopped all 35 shots he faced to record his NHL-leading fifth shutout of this season and the 27th of his career.

While praising the defensive structure in front of him, Sorokin acknowledged after the game that fortune played a role in his performance, saying:

“Luck was on our side tonight.”

Sorokin’s shutout came in a game where the Islanders were outshot for long stretches. Shots were even at 12-12 after the first period, but Edmonton controlled play in the second, outshooting New York 13-4. The Islanders failed to get a shot on goal in the first 12:55 of the third period and managed only six shots over the final 40 minutes.

Anthony Duclair scored the game’s only goal at 13:42 of the third period on New York’s only power play. After Leon Draisaitl was called for tripping Matthew Schaefer, Calum Ritchie received a pass at the left post, spun, and sent a backhand feed into the slot for Duclair, who beat Connor Ingram glove side. The goal ended the Islanders’ six-game power-play drought, during which they had gone 0-for-7. It was Duclair’s ninth goal of the season and was his first time scoring in back-to-back games this year.

Mathew Barzal earned the secondary assist, recording the 500th point of his NHL career in his 576th game. Ritchie picked up the primary assist, while Sorokin’s effort ensured the single goal was enough.

The Oilers came close to scoring multiple times. Early in the third period, with 42 seconds remaining on a carryover power play, Evan Bouchard appeared to score on a cross-ice feed from Draisaitl, but video review confirmed the puck hit the post and crossbar and never crossed the goal line. Later, with Edmonton pressing six-on-four, Draisaitl rang a one-timer off the far post with under 35 seconds remaining.

The shutout snapped Connor McDavid’s 20-game point streak, during which he recorded 46 points (19 goals, 27 assists) since Dec. 4. McDavid became just the third player in Oilers franchise history to post a point streak of at least 20 games, joining Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey. Schaefer and Ryan Pulock handled the primary matchup against McDavid, contributing defensively to end the streak.

Ingram finished with 17 saves for Edmonton, which fell to 23-17-8 and dropped three of its last four games after earning points in five straight.

The Islanders improved to 26-16-5 and 4-1-1 over their last six games. The win was New York’s first in Edmonton since 2017 and ended a six-game road losing streak there. Up next, the Islanders continue their Western Canada trip against the Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon.

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