Ilya Sorokin made 49 saves to lead the New York Islanders to a 3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.
Zach Hyman had the Oilers’ best scoring chance in a scoreless first period. He took a deft pass from Leon Draisaitl and cut in from the right wing, only to be denied by Sorokin.
Oilers goalie Jack Campbell, who suffered a broken nose when he was hit with a puck while on the bench Monday in New Jersey, made 12 saves in the first.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau put the Islanders in control with goals 2:06 apart in the second. While shorthanded, he drove the net and converted a pass from Zach Parise. On the power play, Pageau had his goal-mouth pass go in off Oilers defenceman Evan Bouchard.
“We continue to have to defend, and obviously when the power play gives up one it’s never going to be easy,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said after the game.
“I mean, five power plays and we don’t score and give up a shorthanded goal — it’s a recipe for losing.”
Sebastian Aho fired in a one-timer late in the second. Sorokin stopped 18 Oilers shots in the frame.
Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins nearly spoiled Sorokin’s shutout on the power play with eight minutes to go in the third, but his shot rang off the crossbar.
Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft said the game came down to Sorokin standing on his head.
“Pouring 49 shots on someone is something we set out to do every game,” he said. “Some of the ones that went in the other way, we felt those were controllable situations where we made a couple mistakes.”
“No one’s happy about it. We’re working to correct it… In the end, if we can do a better job of handling those situations, then we’ll come out on the right side of the result.”
The Oilers, who have just three wins in their last 10 games, fall to 10-10 on the season. They’ll visit the New York Rangers on Saturday. You can listen to live coverage of the game on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 9:30 a.m. The actual game starts at 11 a.m.
–With files from James Dunn, 630 CHED
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