The Recent York Islanders narrowly defeated the Edmonton Oilers 1-0 on the road on Thursday night at Rogers Place, leaning heavily on Ilya Sorokin. The Russian goaltender stopped all 35 shots he faced to record his NHL-leading fifth shutout of this season and the twenty seventh of his profession.
While praising the defensive structure in front of him, Sorokin acknowledged after the sport that fortune played a task in his performance, saying:
“Luck was on our side tonight.”
Sorokin’s shutout got here in a game where the Islanders were outshot for long stretches. Shots were even at 12-12 after the primary period, but Edmonton controlled play within the second, outshooting Recent York 13-4. The Islanders didn’t get a shot on goal in the primary 12:55 of the third period and managed only six shots over the ultimate 40 minutes.
Anthony Duclair scored the sport’s only goal at 13:42 of the third period on Recent York’s only power play. After Leon Draisaitl was called for tripping Matthew Schaefer, Calum Ritchie received a pass on the left post, spun, and sent a backhand feed into the slot for Duclair, who beat Connor Ingram glove side. The goal ended the Islanders’ six-game power-play drought, during which they’d gone 0-for-7. It was Duclair’s ninth goal of the season and was his first time scoring in back-to-back games this 12 months.
Mathew Barzal earned the secondary assist, recording the five hundredth point of his NHL profession in his 576th game. Ritchie picked up the first assist, while Sorokin’s effort ensured the one goal was enough.
The Oilers got here near scoring multiple times. Early within the third period, with 42 seconds remaining on a carryover power play, Evan Bouchard appeared to attain on a cross-ice feed from Draisaitl, but video review confirmed the puck hit the post and crossbar and never crossed the goal line. Later, with Edmonton pressing six-on-four, Draisaitl rang a one-timer off the far post with under 35 seconds remaining.
The shutout snapped Connor McDavid’s 20-game point streak, during which he recorded 46 points (19 goals, 27 assists) since Dec. 4. McDavid became just the third player in Oilers franchise history to post a degree streak of not less than 20 games, joining Wayne Gretzky and Paul Coffey. Schaefer and Ryan Pulock handled the first matchup against McDavid, contributing defensively to finish the streak.
Ingram finished with 17 saves for Edmonton, which fell to 23-17-8 and dropped three of its last 4 games after earning points in five straight.
The Islanders improved to 26-16-5 and 4-1-1 over their last six games. The win was Recent York’s first in Edmonton since 2017 and ended a six-game road losing streak there. Up next, the Islanders proceed their Western Canada trip against the Calgary Flames on Saturday afternoon.