Ilya Sorokin was not bad against the Bruins on Saturday, but did Boston find a way to expose him?
The New York Islanders netminder allowed four goals in the B’s 5-2 victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs second round. He turned away 35 of the 39 shots that he faced, but two goals came off rebounds, one a wrister from the slot and another a drive from the point.
Two goals, in particular stand out: The third and fourth.
On the third, Nick Ritchie, after taking part in a puck battle, darted to the crease and situated himself right in front of Sorokin. The Islanders had a tough time dislodging him from his post, and Sorokin might not have even seen Charlie McAvoy’s blue line bomb.
On the fourth, David Pastrnak got the puck in the neutral zone and weaved through the attacking end. Taylor Hall, instead of trying to go for a more traditional 2-on-2, just made a beeline for the net. When Pastrnak fired off his wrister, this is what Sorokin had in front of him.
Here was head coach Barry Trotz’s assessment of how his goalie played.
“I thought he played well. They were buzzing, they were crashing the net, they’re standing in the crease, all those types of things,” Trotz said over Zoom. “Boston went to the net on him, obviously they watched our last series, they’re trying to make it tough on him, and they did.”
Perhaps we’re reading between the lines too much here, but this seems like an admission from Trotz that Sorokin struggles with traffic in front of him.
To be fair, getting bodies to the net isn’t exactly an earth-shattering concept. It’s perhaps the biggest cliché of all the hockey clichés. But if Sorokin struggles that much with it, then the Bruins would obviously be well-advised to just jam up the slot/crease area more than they otherwise would.
Another thing worth monitoring would be his rebound control. He didn’t always pay the price for it, but Sorokin left some gnarly rebounds in Game 1. Two of Pastrnak’s three tallies came off of rebounds, and the Bruins had a few other potential quality chances because of them.
Trotz said he’d leave it up to the goalie department to determine if Sorokin was giving up too many quality rebounds. If as time goes on though the Bruins continue to cash in on rebound opportunities, expect it to be bombs away from the point.
