Sorokin Earns Fifth Iron Man Mask in Shutout Win Over Oilers

At this point, Ilya Sorokin might have more Iron Man masks than goalie masks.

Sorokin earned his fifth Iron Man mask as the New York Islanders’ player of the game on Thursday night, thanks to a 35-save shutout in a 1-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers.

It was Sorokin’s league-leading fifth shutout of the season and 27^th of his career, padding his lead as the Islanders all-time leader in clean sheets.

“There's not enough words to describe how good that guy is,” Mathew Barzal said. “Day in day out for us, his commitment to being a pro, it's his entire life. On the road, you find him in the gym when we get into a new city or early in the morning on an off day, he's stretching and working out, and that's just who he is, man. He’s just ready to play at all times. And he really is the best in the world.”

Sorokin stopped all five shots from the NHL’s leading scorer in Connor McDavid, who entered the game on a 20-game point streak. He stopped six shots from Evan Bouchard, all four from former 50-goal scorer Zach Hyman and another two from Leon Draisaitl.

Sorokin usually downplays shutouts, but even he felt Thursday’s was a cut above.

“It's a big shutout against best player in the league,” Sorokin said.