The islanders’ white whale splashed into the NHL on Saturday night.
After Semyon Varlamov got a puck in the throat during warm-ups, Ilya Sorokin made his NHL debut in the 5-0 defeat of the Islanders at Madison Square Garden 2,934 days after the organization drafted him in 78th place in 2014.
Head coach Barry Trotz did not have an immediate update on Varlamov, who shutout the Rangers on Thursday in the season opener. Cory Schneider served as backup just a day after he officially signed his one-year contract with the islanders.
While the Islanders have patiently waited for 25-year-old Sorokin to be ready for the NHL, Trotz made it clear that Sorokin’s debut was not under the conditions they had hoped for.
“We hung it out to dry,” Trotz said during a Zoom call after the loss.
Trotz also noted that it was “unacceptable” for Varlamov to be injured during warm-ups, adding that it was unfair to Sorokin.
In the first period, 25-year-old Sorokin conceded two goals to fellow countryman Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin in the first 10 shots he encountered. He finished the evening with 27 saves on 32 shots.
“I know [him] quite a bit ”, said Alexandar Georgiev about Sorokin last week. “We work together on the national team a few years ago. Great goal a great guy. Of course I have good things to say about him. I think he is a great goalkeeper. “
Tony DeAngelo was a healthy scratch for the Rangers in Saturday’s rematch against the Islanders.
The Rangers defender skated with the taxi crew on Friday after being called up for an unsportsmanlike conduct a minute and five seconds into the third period of Thursday’s 4-0 defeat to the islands. DeAngelo, who had previously been a healthy scratch under David Quinn for what the Rangers head coach described as “maturity issues,” slammed the door to the penalty area and opened his mouth to the referees after a waiting penalty.
“Look, there’s just a lot of things we’re going to keep in the house, and this is one of them,” said Quinn ahead of Saturday’s game at Madison Square Garden. “Tony and I talked about it. There is clarity about what happened here. It was the right thing to do and he will be back in the lineup soon. “
When asked if he would scratch another player in the lineup if they behaved like DeAngelo did Thursday, Quinn said he would and it had nothing to do with being a repeat offender in DeAngelo.
“This would have happened to any player, it has nothing to do with Tony,” he said.
After a slow start in their first NHL game on Thursday, rookies K’Andre Miller and Alexis Lafreniere appeared to be settling in at the pro-level pace in Saturday’s shutout victory.
“They both played a much better hockey game, they played with swagger, I mean, they weren’t intimidated,” said Rangers coach David Quinn. “This is a difficult team to play, we played them. Every time you play the Islanders it’s a man’s game and for those two guys to step forward and not be intimidated and play with the passion and the swagger they played with, that’s a great sign to us. “
Buchnevich leveled his single-game career highs with two goals and three points in the win. He also led all skaters with five shots on target, posting a plus-two rating.