Islanders Notebook: Power Play Talk & Managing Sorokin

EAST MEADOW, NY -- In Thursday's New York Islanders notebook, we discuss the team's power play and what adjustments have to happen against aggressive penalty kills, along with goaltender Ilya Sorokin's workload:

Struggling Power Play vs. Aggressive Penalty Kill

The Islanders power play had tremendous success against the Ottawa Senators on Sunday evening, going 2-for-2 in a 4-2 win.

Then came Tuesday against the Los Angeles Kings, who entered the game on a five-game heater. Against the better teams, power play success is life or death, and for the Islanders, well, they fell on the King's sword, so to speak.

In a 3-1 loss, with the Kings scoring an empty-net goal, the Islanders went 0-for-3 on the power play, with six total shots.

"The Kings were a little bit different on their kill [compared to Ottawa," Islanders forward Bo Horvat said. "They were a little bit more aggressive. Our puck decision-making had to be quicker. They got on us quickly, and it was up to us to make the adjustment and get out of those positions.

"Move the puck quicker, I think, is the biggest thing, especially when they're going to be pressuring like that."

Through 29 games, the Islanders' power play is sitting at 13.3%, which is the second worst in the NHL.

Stats are relative, and with a wild-card spot in sight, the Islanders just need to find ways to be effective on the man advantage, especially once all the injured players return.

Related: BREAKING: Mathew Barzal Back On Ice With Islanders

The Islanders now turn their attention to the Chicago Blackhawks, with a home-and-home against them on the docket.

While the Blackhawks are in the basement of the Western Conference, their fine kill is sixth best in the NHL, at 82.5%.

"I'm not sure what [Chicago's] kills all about yet," Horvat said. "We're watching videos here today, and we just have to be better in that area."

It's an aggressive one.

The Islanders' power play has been hampered by poor puck movement, as well as their struggles to break into the zone.

Their flaws get magnified against penalty kills that are aggressive.

When that's the case, how important is it for the Islanders to get pucks down low?

"There's two elements that are very important," Roy said. "First of all, how are we going to play those battles [down low]? How are we going to get into good positioning on the battles? How do we want to release the battle? Then, the second one is to move the puck quick. If you move that puck quick, you could go low if you want to. You could go high if you want to. But at some point, you need to throw the puck at the net, with the timing that we're gonna have traffic. That's the same thing when you work on the OZP (offensive zone pressure).

"It's nice to move the puck around, but at some point, if there's only one guy or if there's nobody, you can't keep the eyes of the goalie off the puck, so you need to find a way to create the momentum and the right timing for you to throw pucks at the net."

On 83 power-play chances, the Islanders have sent 132 shots on goal, an average of 1.59 shots per opportunity.

Their 11 power-play goals are the fewest in the NHL.

Ilya Sorokin's Workload

Ilya Sorokin is a workhorse in between the pipes, but recent history tells us that playing the 2023 Vezina finalist too much can have negative consequences.

When backup netminder Semyon Varlamov went down last season with an injury, Sorokin was the guy, regardless of the scheduling situation.

What ultimately happened was that Sorokin struggled with consistency, to the point that Roy ran Varlamov in the second half of the season and in the playoffs.

Then, this summer, we learned that Sorokin needed offseason back surgery, likely due to the work overload.

When the 2024-25 season began, Sorokin wasn't ready.

Upon his return, Roy made it clear that there would be a split in goal, and the Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender turned coach followed his plan.

"Maybe he was a bit tired at the end of the last year, and right now he's fresh," Roy said. "And that's why we're rotating our goalies the way we've been doing. We're trying to make sure he's he's going out there, and he's rested."

Related: With Spring Hockey In Mind, Islanders Roy To Often Rotate Goaltenders Sorokin & Varlamov

But once Varlamov went down with an injury, the Islanders were faced with a choice.

Do they run Sorokin all day, every day, again, or rely on a third-string netminder for spot starts here or there when Varlamov is ready to return?

Varlamov has missed seven games, including a back-to-back last weekend, and Sorokin started each one.

Hogberg has made one appearance, stopping 13 of 13 in a 5-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken last Thursday.

Roy isn't concerned about the workload for his star netminder, at least not right now.

"I try to talk to him, but I talk more to Piero Greco (goalie coach) about this to see if he's tired or not, what he needs, you know, the practices, the days off, and really see how we can manage the off-ice to make sure that he's rested when he goes in, " Roy said. "I think it's a schedule that he can handle. So, we'll see how it goes from there. I want to take it one game at a time.

"Sometimes, we say,' Okay, he's going to play this game, and Varly's going to play that game,' but sometimes you just need to go game by game."

The Islanders will play four games over the next 10 days, closing out the 2024 portion of the season with eight games over the next twenty days.

Varlamov has yet to skate since starting and finishing their 5-4 overtime loss to the Washington Capitals on Nov. 29.

The good news is that Sorokin is playing well despite the workload. Over the last four games, specifically, he's been flat-out brilliant. He did a great job in a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes, stole the game against Ottawa after the Islanders were outshot 31-13, and did his best against a tough Kings team.

"He's phenomenal. He kept us in that game, especially early last game, and especially the last two games have been out-of-this-world performances," Horvat said. "He's one of the best goalies in the league, if not the best, in my opinion. And we're lucky to have him."

Sorokin is 8-8-4 in 20 starts this season, owning a 2.58 GAA with a .912 SV%.