Ilya Sorokin became the second New York Islanders rookie goalie ever to post consecutive shutouts Sunday, when he stopped all 20 shots he faced as the Islanders rode a pair of power play goals to a 2-0 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins in Uniondale, N.Y.
Sorokin recorded this shutout 12 days after his previous appearance, when he also stopped 20 shots as he earned his first NHL win in a 3-0 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. The only other Islanders rookie goalie to post back-to-back shutouts is Chico Resch, who did so in 1975.
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Oliver Wahlstrom scored in the first period and Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored in the second for the Islanders, who snapped a four-game losing streak against the Penguins to salvage a split of the series. Pittsburgh earned a 4-3 overtime victory in Uniondale Saturday night.
Casey DeSmith made 28 saves for the Penguins.
The Islanders scored both power play goals in the second minute of the man advantage.
The first power play goal came after Marcus Pettersson was whistled for hooking with 1:47 left in the opening period. Josh Bailey deked a shot from the right faceoff circle and passed to Nick Leddy, who was stationed in front of the blue line. Leddy passed to Wahlstrom, who wound up from the left faceoff circle and fired a shot under the outstretched stick of Kris Letang and beyond Smith into the upper right corner of the net with 37.1 seconds remaining.
It was Leddy’s team-best 13 assist of the season.
Jake Guentzel was penalized for tripping with 6:08 remaining in the second to set up the Islanders’ next goal. Bailey earned the primary assist with a nifty pass beyond Sidney Crosby to Pageau, who had a split-second opening with Bryan Rust behind him and Letang preparing to try and block a shot in front of him. Pageau shot as Letang whirled and the puck sailed underneath Smith’s legs with 5:04 left.
The Penguins had just 10 shots in the first two periods against Sorokin before mustering 10 in the final 20 minutes. Pittsburgh mounted its only serious threat after pulling DeSmith with about 90 seconds remaining, but Sorokin turned back a point-blank shot by Brandon Tanev with 12 seconds left.
–Field Level Media