San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
SOROKIN, ISLANDERS DEFEAT PITTSBURGH
After two tough losses, the New York Islanders turned back to Ilya Sorokin in a game they needed to win, and the rookie goalie came through.
Islanders 4, Penguins 1
Sorokin stopped 29 shots, Oliver Wahlstrom and Ryan Pulock each had a goal and an assist and the Islanders beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 in Game 4 on Saturday at home to even the first-round series.
Sorokin, who had 39 saves in the Islanders’ win in Game 1, was back in goal after Semyon Varlamov started Games 2 and 3 — both losses.
“Ilya’s been through a lot of stuff, everything from league championships in a very good league in the KHL,” New York coach Barry Trotz said. “He’s won it, he’s been MVP. He’s been under the spotlight a lot and been in those big moments. He’s not a guy that’s a pure rookie coming in the NHL or a lot of these highpressure situations. He’s had a lot of them, just in different leagues.”
Josh Bailey and Jordan Eberle also scored and Mathew Barzal had two assists for New York.
Tristan Jarry had 23 saves for Pittsburgh, and drew mocking chants of “Jar-ry! Jar-ry!” from Islanders fans.
“We just got to stay with it,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “I don’t think we were quite as sharp tonight. We didn’t have as many looks tonight as we had in the first few games. We’re going to have to work for those moving forward.”
Game 5 is Monday night in Pittsburgh, and Game 6 back at Nassau Coliseum on Wednesday.
With the teams skating 4 on 4 in the third period, Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang was whistled for interference to put the Islanders on their third power play. Just as a penalty on Scott Mayfield was expiring, Wahlstrom fired a one-timer that was stopped by Jarry, However, Pittsburgh’s Teddy Blueger knocked the puck in while trying to clear the rebound, putting New York up 3-0 at 6:04.
Maple Leafs 5, Canadiens 1: Auston Matthews broke a tie early in the second period, and host Toronto beat Montreal in Game 2 to even the first-round playoff series.
The Maple Leafs were without captain John Tavares after he sustained a concussion and knee injury on a scary collision 10 minutes into Game 1. Tavares is expected to be out at least two weeks.
Golden Knights 4, Wild 0: Marcandre Fleury made 35 saves for his 16th career postseason shutout, Nicolas Roy scored twice and visiting Vegas beat Minnesota in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead,
Alex Tuch and Mark Stone each got their third goal of the series and Keegan Kolesar had two assists for the Golden Knights.
Game 5 is Monday night in Las Vegas.
Lightning 6, Panthers 2: Alex Killorn scored two second-period goals, and Tampa Bay rebounded a loss to rout visiting Florida and a 3-1 series lead. The reigning Stanley Cup champions pushed their intrastate rivals to the brink of elimination by scoring three first-period goals, then building their advantage to 5-1 when Killorn beat goalie Sergei Bobrovsky twice in 1:34 to break it open.