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Good Morning, Islanders Country.
The Isles have allowed at least five goals in three straight games for the first time since April 21-24, 2022. To no surprise, they’ve lost all three in regulation.
For everything that’s happened with the Isles roster this season, good, bad, and indifferent, they are as good, bad, or mediocre as their goaltending has been on any given night. That doesn’t mean that goaltending is to blame for the Isles' plight, but it does mean that even with the injuries, inconsistent play, and horrid power play, they would probably be a playoff team if the goaltending was better.
GM Lou Lamoriello has always placed a premium on goaltending, so he had no reservations about investing a combined $11M AAV in Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov. Goaltending was supposed to be a given. The unquestioned strength of the team. The positional edge against most opponents.
However, it’s been anything but a sure thing. Varly suffered a serious lower-body injury, and while Sorokin has shown flashes of being elite, he’s struggled to be consistent while carrying the workload. Marcus Hogberg was brilliant in limited chances before an injury stalled his momentum. A return to reality followed.
Entering the summer, there will be months of questions and commentary about what the Islanders must do to “re-tool” their roster for next season. There’s plenty to do and plenty to consider, but the road back to contention starts with their goaltending being as good as expected and maybe even better.
If that doesn’t happen, the rest won’t matter.
