The Islanders ’white whale splashed in the NHL Saturday night.
After Semyon Varlamov wore a record to his throat during the warm-ups, Ilya Sorokin made his NHL debut in the Islanders’ 5-0 loss to Madison Square Garden 2,934 days after the organization ranked him 78th in 2014. .
Head coach Barry Trotz had no immediate information about Varlamov, who posted a shutdown against the Rangers at the start of the season on Thursday. Cory Schneider served as a backup just a day after officially signing his one-year deal with the Islanders.
While the Islanders patiently waited for Sorokin, 25, to be ready for the NHL, Trotz made it clear that Sorokin’s debut was not in the circumstances they expected.
“We hung it to dry it,” Trotz said in a Zoom call after the loss.
Trotz also noted that “it was not acceptable” for Varlamov to be injured during the warm-ups, adding that it was unfair to Sorokin.
In the first period, Sorokin, 25, allowed two goals to compatriot Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin in the first 10 shots he faced. He finished the night with 27 stops in 32 shots.
“I know [him] pretty much, “Alexandar Georgiev said about Sorokin last week.” A couple of years ago we worked together in the national team. Awesome goal a great guy. I have good things about him to say, obviously. I think he’s a great goalkeeper. ” .
Tony DeAngelo was a good risk for the Rangers in Saturday’s rematch against the Islanders.
The Rangers defender skated with the taxi squad on Friday after being called up for unsportsmanlike conduct a minute and five seconds after the third period of Thursday’s 4-0 defeat in the Islands. DeAngelo, who has been a good risk ahead of David Quinn for what the Rangers coach called “maturity issues,” slammed into the penalty box door and opened his mouth to the referees after committing a holding penalty. .
“Listen, there are a lot of things going on that we’ll keep at home, and this is one of them,” Quinn said before Saturday’s contest at Madison Square Garden. “Tony and I talked about it. There is clarity about what happened here. It was the right thing to do and I would be back soon. ”
When asked if he would scratch any other player in the lineup if they behaved the same way DeAngelo did on Thursday, Quinn said he would and had nothing to do with the fact that he was a repeat offender to DeAngelo. .
“That would have happened to any player, it has nothing to do with Tony,” he said.
After slow starts in their first NHL game on Thursday, debutants K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere seemed to settle for the pace of the professional level in Saturday’s win.
“They both played a much better hockey game, they played with braggarts, I mean they weren’t intimidated,” Rangers coach David Quinn said. “This is a difficult team to play, we played them. It’s a man’s game every time you play the Islanders and these two guys take a step forward and don’t get intimidated and play with the passion and bragging they played with, it’s a great sign for us. “
Buchnevich tied his career highs in a single game with two goals and three points in the win. He also directed all skaters with five shots on goal and scored more than two.