Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin activated off IR, will back up against Leafs

The New York Islanders are set to get a big boost in the form of the return of their franchise goaltender.

According to NHL.com beat reporter Stefen Rosner, Sorokin is set to serve as the team’s backup goalie on Saturday night when the Islanders host the Toronto Maple Leafs and has a chance to start next Tuesday when they take on the New Jersey Devils.

Sorokin has been on injured reserve with a lower-body injury, and he last appeared on December 21 in a 4-1 Islanders loss at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks.

The 30-year-old Russian netminder is once again putting together a strong season between the pipes, just as he has done in every season since making his debut in the 2020-21 campaign. So far this year, Sorokin has gone 12-10-2 with a .910 save percentage and a 2.55 goals against average.

Sorokin has posted between a .907 and .925 SV% in each of his six years with the Islanders, consistently beating the NHL average mark in the key goaltending metric.

Backup David Rittich has been excellent in his role this season, going 10-5-2 in his 17 appearances with a .909 SV% and 2.46 GAA. Marcus Hogberg has one appearance in the third-goalie role, but he has not made a start.

After missing out on the Stanley Cup Playoffs a year ago, New York has positioned itself well in a tightly-packed Eastern Conference. The Isles own a 22-15-4 record that is good enough to have them in second place in the Metropolitan Division, just three points behind the first-place Carolina Hurricanes, though Carolina has a game in hand.

The games against Toronto and New Jersey will mark the end of a home swing, and New York will then embark on a seven-game road trip that will feature stops in Nashville, Minnesota, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and Seattle. They will not play at UBS Arena after Tuesday until January 24.