New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin became the fifth goaltender in franchise history to play 200 career games with the team in tonight’s (Nov. 5) matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The 28-year-old holds a 98-68-31 record, 2.53 goals against average (GAA), and a .919 save percentage (SV%) across five NHL seasons, all on Long Island.
ILYA SOROKIN đź‘Ź đź‘Ź đź‘Ź đź‘Ź đź‘Ź#NHLGoalieWeek pic.twitter.com/HNBRy6EhM6
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) August 27, 2024
The Islanders selected Sorokin in the third round (No. 78) of the 2014 NHL Draft. After a dominant career in the Kontinental Hockey League where he was selected to the All-Star Game in five consecutive seasons (2015-16 to 2019-20), he signed a one-year contract on July 13, 2020, with the Islanders. He went 13-6-3 with a 2.17 GAA, .918 SV%, and three shutouts in 22 games his rookie season where primarily sat behind Varlamov.
Sorokin is in year one of an eight-year, $66 million contract signed on July 1, 2023. Through seven games this season, he holds a 3-3-1 record, 2.29 GAA, and .922 SV%. After undergoing back surgery this past offseason and missing the entire preseason, he stopped 32 of 34 shots in his season debut on Oct. 14 against the Colorado Avalanche.
With game number 200 now underway, Sorokin joins Billy Smith, Rick DiPietro, Glenn Resch, and Kelly Hrudey as the only goaltenders to reach this milestone with the Islanders. Notably, Thomas Greiss concluded his Islanders tenure just short of this mark at 193 games, while current Islander Semyon Varlamov stands at 168 games played and has over two years remaining on his contract.
