ELMONT, NY — New York Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin got the start in Game 3 as a rested goalie seeking to give his team a fresh start after trailing the Carolina Hurricanes 2-0 in their opening round series.
But things turned rotten quickly for Sorokin. He gave up 3 goals on 14 shots before he was pulled 7:14 into the second period. Semyon Varlamov , who started the first two games of the series, stopped all eight shots he faced in relief, but it wasn’t enough: The Hurricanes defeated the Islanders, 3-2, as New York faces elimination on Saturday afternoon at UBS Arena.
Coach Patrick Roy, who made the decision to start Sorokin, refused to directly address his goalie’s performance in Game 3.
“I’m going to say this: We win and we lose as a team. So I’m not going to go there. But what I’m going to say is sometimes we make changes as a coach because we feel we just want to change the momentum in the game. I’ll leave it at that,” said Roy, who had a Hall of Fame career as an NHL goaltender.