PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin played maybe the greatest game by a goalie at PPG Paints Arena stopping 48 shots. Likely remembered by Pens fans thought as the game with the unthinkable mistake by their goalie. As the Islanders win 3-2 in double overtime and lead the series 3-2.
Under a minute into the second overtime period, Tristan Jarry cleared the puck up the middle and right to the Islanders Josh Bailey near the blue line. He skated in as a frantic Jarry attempted to get set and buried the gamer.
"He's been such a good goalie for us all year long," said head coach Mike Sullivan. "I thought he had a heck of a game until that point. He made a mistake, but he made some big saves for us throughout the course of the game as well. He made a great save on Eberle in the first overtime that allows us to get to the second overtime."
Jarry would finish with 25 saves on the night, but that mistake is something that could linger around the 26-year-old with only a pair of career playoff wins.
"We will rally around him," Sullivan said. "He's been a really good goalie for us all year long. He will continue to be a good goalie going forward."
"You shake it off and you have to bring your A-game for the next one," said defenseman Kris Letang of advice to Jarry. "It's a team game. It's nobody's fault. We win as a team. We lose as a team. He is going to bring his A-game like we did tonight. We'll go in there and try to win that game."
Sorokin superlative
Only a few months younger than Jarry, Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin played a phenomenal game. Stopping nearly every opportunity and seemed to get sharper as the game continued. At one point in the second period, the Pens outshot the Isles 17-1 and 20-4 for the period, yet he kept it a one-goal deficit.
"We got to give him some credit," Sullivan said. "He made some big saves. We had a significant amount of scoring chances. Rebound chances, deflection chances, traffic at the end, there was a lot of opportunity there. We put a lot at the net. I'm not sure we could do much more to get a different result in terms of the amount of goals that we scored."
"We played well tonight, obviously we would have liked to get another puck past their goalie," said forward Bryan Rust, who scored one of the two Pens goals. "Got to give him credit, he played well."
"Their goalie made great saves and we weren't able to get that goal (a third goal), but we kept playing," Letang said. "Eventually they are going to go in."
And that's what the Pens believe or at least what they are telling themselves about facing an elimination game on the road on Wednesday.
"I was really proud of the team," Sullivan said. "I thought we played a really solid hockey game. All four lines were going, all six defensemen. Tristan made a couple of big saves for us throughout the course of the game. I was really proud of the group."
"I thought we played with some swagger. We had some confidence. We were on our toes. We played a speed game. It was unfortunate we didn't find the net a little more often. Sometimes that happens in this game."
"We did a lot of good things," Rust said. "There were obviously some breakdowns in there we can learn from and ways we can get better. We were playing on our toes tonight. We had a lot of good looks. We have to just try and carry that attitude and that game into the next one."
"I think we made a statement in the way we played tonight," Letang said. "We just have to forget about it and go into their arena and bring the same intensity and same urgency. I'm pretty sure we will get a better result.
Malkin scored
One of the talking points in the series is the make-up of the power play and if Evgeni Malkin should be on it. Not only did Mike Sullivan stick with his lines, but stuck with Malkin on the power play. It was some of the best special teams passing in recent games leading to a Malkin goal. His first of the playoffs. Letang and Rust with the final pair of passes.
Up Next
Game 6 goes back to the Coliseum Wednesday night, where the Islanders are 1-1 in the series, 21-4-3 in the regular season.
