Anthony Duclair scored the game winner and Ilya Sorokin picked up his 5th shutout of the season in Edmonton.
After an even first period, the Edmonton Oilers really took over the game tonight and the New York Islanders looked lost. But while Connor Ingram was pretty good for the Oilers, turning away 17 of 18 shots, he was no Ilya Sorokin.
Sorokin rebounded nicely from a rough night in Winnipeg, picking up his fifth shutout of the season and extending his franchise record total, all while turning away 36 shots and getting a little help from the post and crossbar along the way. He was by far the best player on the ice for the Islanders tonight, and it was his play that ultimately made the Isles’ one power play tonight an impactful one.
On that power play, Anthony Duclair scored the game winner, giving him a goal in back to back games for the first time this season.
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This game could’ve been very different early on, as Marc Gatcomb had two chances saved by Connor Ingram after Kyle MacLean set him up on a breakaway early.
And at the other end, Ilya Sorokin made a great save on Connor McDavid, who came into the game with a 20 game point streak.
It was all about the goalies in the first period, with Sorokin and Ingram both making 12 saves to keep the game scoreless.
But in the second period, Edmonton turned up the heat, peppering Sorokin with 13 shots to the Islanders’ measly four.
Adam Pelech took a late slashing penalty that carried over into the third period, and the Islanders killed that with some excitement along the way. It looked like Evan Bouchard had scored, and the goal light and associated celebrations started, but it actually hit both the post and the crossbar and never went past the goal line. This happened in another game fairly recently, so some hockey god seems to be looking out for the Isles right now.
Emil Heineman took a tripping penalty, and the Islanders were able to kill that.
Then, Leon Draisaitl took a penalty for tripping Matthew Schaefer, and the Islanders would get a power play with eight minutes to go in the third.
On that power play, Mat Barzal passed the puck off to a stick-tapping Cal Ritchie at the goal line, who did a slight spin around to back pass(!!) the puck to Anthony Duclair in the slot. Duclair snapped the puck past Ingram, and the Islanders took the lead, breaking the deadlock. That secondary assist was also Barzal’s 500th NHL point.
The Oilers pulled Ingram, and Draisaitl put the puck off the bar with about 30 seconds to go, missing a nearly sure goal. The Isles couldn’t score on the empty net, but they were able to seal the win (their first in Edmonton since 2017) and Sorokin’s 27th career shutout.
Up Next
Next, the Western Canada Road Trip Extravaganza continues as the Islanders head to Calgary to take on the Flames at 3pm EST on Saturday.
Category: General Sports
