Ilya Sorokin playing his best hockey as Islanders charge up standings

TAMPA, Fla.— Ilya Sorokin is not usually one to give detailed breakdowns of his own play, and Thursday night was no exception. “I feel at one level,” Sorokin said, asked if anything had shifted for him recently.

“Nothing can change in my mind.Of course when you win, it’s positive emotions, but how our coach says, just until 12 a.m.

and done.Tomorrow [is a] new day, ready for the next day.” That mentality is part of what’s gotten Sorokin this far in his career.

But whatever he feels, his level has, without a doubt, risen over the last month. In fact, Sorokin’s .938 save percentage in January marked his best over one month since March 2022.His numbers also dramatically improved from December, when he had an abysmal 3.45 goals allowed average and .873 save percentage over 14 starts, to a dominant 1.75 GAA in nine games since the calendar flipped. The Islanders’ current six-game winning streak doesn’t quite feel like past runs when Sorokin has been the only thing between them and disaster on a nightly basis.

The defense in front of him has been strong, particularly a dramatically improved penalty kill. But the goalie is a pretty big piece of the puzzle as the Islanders charge up the standings, with a chance to make up a critical two points on the wild card-leading Lightning on Saturday night in Tampa. “He’s been really solid,” coach Patrick Roy said after Thursday night’s 3-0 win over the Flyers marked Sorokin’s third shutout this season.“The last two games, I would say, against Colorado he gave us a chance.

And again [Thursday] when they came in, I thought in the first period, we gave them three very good chances and he made some [saves]. “What I love about him right now, it looks easy.And I think when a goalie’s at the top of his game, that’s the situation.” The workload on Sorokin is set to increase after Marcus Hogberg’s injury, a potential red flag as workload was a major factor in his struggles both in Decemb...