BOSTON, MA — Ilya Sorokin dominated between the pipes to help the New York Islanders snap a four-game skid with a 2-1 victory against the Boston Bruins at T.D. Garden on Thursday night.
Sorokin stopped 37 of 38 for a strong bounce-back game after allowing five goals on 11 shots through two periods in their 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Here’s how the game unfolded:
The New York Islanders were absolutely dominated for the first 15 minutes of the first period. They were sloppy. They were a step behind, but they had one thing on their side: a locked-in Sorokin.
He was brilliant in the first, robbing Boston players left, right and center, and was much more aggressive than he was on Tuesday night against the New York Rangers.
Moments after Sorokin’s second kill of the night, Alexander Romanov came jolting out of the penalty box to turn Pageau’s 1-on-1 into a 2-on-1.
After crossing over the Boston blue line, Pageau hit Romanov on the money, before No. 28 ripped one short side on Jeremy Swayman, the Islanders’ third shot of the period to give them a 1-0 lead at 16:11 of the first:
Then, early in the second, it was Kyle Palmieri extending the Islanders’ lead to 2-0. He banked home a Brock Nelson wrist shot at 4:21 of the second for his fourth goal over the last five games:
Nelson extended his point streak to four games, with a goal and four assists.
In the closing minutes of the second period, Nelson interfered with Matt Poitras, sending him through the Islanders’ open bench door.
The referees came together, giving Nelson a major penalty, so that they could review the play. It was deemed a minor penalty.
Sorokin stood sharp, stopping all 26 shots through two periods.
Unfortunately for Sorokin, his defenseman Tony DeAngelo deflected a back-door pass off the stick of David Pastrnak past Sorokin at 10:04 of the third period to cut Boston’s deficit to 2-1:
That goal gave Pastrnak his 800th career point and also extended his point streak to 16 games.
The Islanders were under siege for most of the third, but Sorokin and the Islanders held on for the 2-1 win.
UP NEXT: The Islanders host the Nashville Predators on Saturday night at 12:30 PM ET
