Sorokin makes 39 saves, Islanders defeat Blackhawks for first win

CHICAGO -- Ilya Sorokin made 39 saves to help the New York Islanders to their first win of the season, 4-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Tuesday.

Oliver Wahlstrom scored two goals for the Islanders (1-2-0), who lost their previous two games on this stretch of 13 straight on the road.
Sorokin lost his shutout when MacKenzie Entwistle scored with 26 seconds remaining.
"I wanted him to get the shutout," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "He deserved the shutout, but we failed in the last few seconds. But he played really solid. He made the saves he needed to make and some that were timely."
Marc-Andre Fleury allowed three goals in the third period and finished with 25 saves for the Blackhawks, who are still seeking their first win (0-3-1).
"We probably didn't deserve to come out on top in any of the first three games, but today if a couple of those go our way early on we feel it's a different game," Chicago captain Jonathan Toews said. "We'll find that consistency as a team, we'll settle in. Every team goes through a spurt early in the year where you're going to have four, five, six games that don't go your way and nothing really feels like it's rolling downhill for you.
"It's frustrating, no doubt. But whenever you go through that, you have a choice and the only choice for us is to keep working through it and to look for solutions to get better because of it.
Sorokin made 18 saves in the first period, including two point-blank chances for Alex DeBrincat.
"He definitely bailed us out in that first period," Wahlstrom said of Sorokin. "He's a world-class goalie. It's tough to score on him in practice. It was really good for him to get that win. He played unbelievable. He bailed us out a couple of times and I'm happy for him."
Anthony Beauvillier gave New York a 1-0 lead at 4:08 of the second period when he collected a loose puck behind the net and pushed it past Fleury for an unassisted goal. It was Beauvillier's first of the season.

Chicago's best chances in the second period came while shorthanded after Seth Jones was penalized for hooking at 17:54. Sorokin made a save against Entwistle as he skated in from the left side, then against DeBrincat on a breakaway with 1:01 left in the period.
"He made a huge save on that shorthanded breakaway," Trotz said. "That was a game changer."
Wahlstrom made it 2-0 48 seconds into the third period when he took advantage of a turnover by Henrik Borgstrom in the Blackhawks zone. Wahlstrom collected the puck and eluded a diving Jake McCabe before shooting past Fleury.
Wahlstrom scored again at 8:51 when he took a cross-ice pass from Jean-Gabriel Pageau and shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle.
"Just talking to the coaching staff before the season, just play up and down my wing and keep the game simple and get my shot off," Wahlstrom said. "I'm playing with really good players on my line right now with 'Pager' and Zach (Parise). Just learn from them and just build off of it and just stay consistent."

Cal Clutterbuck scored at 11:06 to make it 4-0.
"The result was secondary to how we played," Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton said. "Certainly the first two periods, we had our chances. We were good defensively, managed the game well. They're a good team, you've got to give them credit. The goalie made some saves, and they were solid as well.
"Obviously, the 1-0 goal changed the game. The first goal would have helped us a lot. They got it, so it changed the game a little bit."
NOTES:Three of New York's goals were unassisted. … The Islanders were without forward Anders Lee because of an illness that is not COVID-19 related. "Probably something he ate," Trotz said. Lee was replaced by forward Kieffer Bellows, who had five hits in 12:59 of ice time. … New York forward Matt Martin was activated off injured reserve and made his season debut after having ankle surgery during the offseason. He had four hits in 11:22. … Chicago forward Mike Hardman left the game in the second period after being checked into the boards by Martin. Colliton called it a "hard it, a bad hit," and said Hardman was being evaluated … The Blackhawks honored Hall of Fame goalie Tony Esposito before the game. Esposito died Aug. 10 at the age of 78.