Wall of New York: Sorokin repelled 41 throws, designed a “cracker” and was recognized as the first star of the day in the NHL

In the New York derby between the Rangers and the Islanders, a confrontation between two Russian goalkeepers Igor Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin was expected, but the owner of Vezina had a tough match with Colorado the day before and therefore the coaching staff gave him the opportunity to rest.

As a result, the Russian spent the entire match on the bench, watching how his replacement, Czech Yaroslav Galak, was doing.

Did not go on the ice and his teammate Vitaly Kravtsov, who was again injured.

The 22-year-old striker continues his streak of bad luck: this is the second injury at the start of the season.

At the same time, the timing of his return to service is still unknown.

As a result, the protagonist of the last meeting was Sorokin, who managed to keep his goal intact, repelling 41 opponents' shots.

The Russian goalkeeper had to work hard from the very first minutes: the Rangers, as owners, took the initiative into their own hands and bothered him quite often (in the first period, they more than doubled the opponent - 17:8).

As Sorokin noted, such a number of shots allowed him to maintain his playing tone for the entire meeting.

In some episodes, a native of Novokuznetsk showed real miracles of goalkeeper art.

So, in the middle of the starting twenty-minute period, Ilya did not allow Kaapo Kakko to score, who skillfully wound up the Islanders' defense and went one on one with the goalkeeper.

Ilya parried his throw, and then, lying down, managed to react to a finishing move by Mika Zibanejad.

Sorokin managed to inspire his teammates with his confidence, and in the second period, the Islanders were transformed.

Yes, the defense of the guests did not play better, but at the same time they began to respond with an attack for an attack and turned out to be lucky in one of them.

Kyle Palmieri lost the puck in the opponent's zone while moving from the left flank to the center, but the defenders failed to take possession of it and the striker hit the gate.

In the third period, the Rangers continued to create chances and waste them, although in one case Sorokin was rescued by the crossbar.

But Lane Lambert's wards used their chances.

First, Josh Bailey completed a geometrically perfect attack in touch from the patch, and then Palmieri designed a double, throwing irresistibly from under the defender over the shoulder of Galak.

As for Sorokin, for his sparkling game, he was recognized as the first star not only of the meeting, but of the whole day.

The goalkeeper admitted that every meeting with the Rangers is a real pleasure for him.

“Derbies give emotions both to the fans and to us.

In general, every victory makes me happy.

It doesn't matter who.

When you lose, you feel bad.

But victories are very uplifting, ”explained Ilya.

For the Islanders, this victory is the first after three defeats in a row, however, according to Sorokin, he tried not to focus on an unpleasant series.

“Every day starts with a clean slate.

And every day I try to give all my best at 100%, ”the hockey player emphasized.

The head coach of the team also could not ignore the performance of the goalkeeper.

According to him, the Russian had a great match.

“During the time that Ilya has been in the team, he has become more confident and has grown very professionally, there is no doubt about it,” admitted the Canadian specialist.

Palmieri, in turn, said that Sorokin leaves the team a chance to win in every match that goes on the ice.

The American press is also full of compliments to the goalkeeper, and the official NHL Twitter account even posted his photo on the cover.

The current shutout is the 11th in Sorokin's career in the NHL, and this allowed him to set a historical achievement for Russian goalkeepers.

Ilya was one of the top five goaltenders over the past 55 years in terms of the number of "crackers" before he played 80 games in the league.

The record for this indicator belongs to Tony Esposito (17), the second place is shared by Martin Jones and Glenn Roesch (12), in addition to Sorokin, Antti Niemi, Roman Cechmanek and Ken Dryden are in third.

Not without a significant contribution of the Russians and another meeting of the day, in which Anaheim hosted Tampa.

The current owners of the Stanley Cup not without difficulty beat one of the outsiders of the Western Conference - 4:2.

The guests were the first to concede in the starting twenty-minute period, but thanks to the efforts of Mikhail Sergachev and Nikita Kucherov, they took the lead even before the break.

Sergachev's puck came out quite spectacular: he cunningly threw a roundabout, and the goalkeeper did not have time to react.

And Kucherov, just 86 seconds later, caught John Gibson by surprise after a diagonal pass from Victor Hedman.

This puck became the jubilee for the attacker - the three hundredth, taking into account the playoff matches.

In Tampa, only three could boast of such an achievement before him: Steven Stamkos (531 goals), Vincent Lecavalier (407) and Martin St. Louis (398).

Sergachev also participated in Brandon Hagel's goal in the third period and was awarded the title of the third star of the game of the day.

Apparently the league recognized the contribution of a defender who did not leave the field without a scoring action in the fourth match in a row.

By the way, Kucherov has six such matches.