GAME RECAP: Islanders 1, Oilers 0

EDMONTON, AB – Sorokin stole the show, and that's the way it goes.

Ilya Sorokin stopped all 35 shots he faced to earn the shutout in a terrific performance, while Anthony Duclair scored the only goal on the power play with 6:18 left in regulation for the New York Islanders on Thursday night at Rogers Place in a narrow 1-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

Connor Ingram had a strong night with 17 saves, but the netminder was outduelled in the opposite crease by Sorokin, who picked up his fifth shutout and 15th victory of the season after shutting the Oilers down for 60 minutes and making a handful of clutch saves that included two power plays for Edmonton.

"He played great, but it doesn't really change my job," Ingram said. "I thought he played great, but it's two bad bounces that are the difference in that game. Obviously, he deserves some credit as well, but it's that close, and that's what it's like playing in the NHL. You get a guy who's hot like that with a couple of posts, and that's the difference."

After Leon Draisaitl took a tripping penalty with eight minutes left in regulation, Duclair scored the lone tally that was assisted by Mat Barzal for his 500th career point before the Islanders locked it down at six-on-five with the net empty, including Sorokin's incredible last-ditch save on a Draisaitl one-timer.

The Oilers fall to 23-17-8 this season as they look ahead to beginning a weekend back-to-back on Saturday night at Rogers Arena against the Canucks.

FIRST PERIOD

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Connor Ingram and Ilya Sorokin came ready to play after combining to make 23 saves in a scoreless opening frame.

"We had our chances for sure," Jake Walman said. "When we broke them down, their goalie was there to bail them out, and I thought the goaltending all game from Ingham and their guy there was top-notch. So it's tough to score when the goalies are playing like that."

Ingram was making his fourth start in the last six games for the Oilers after stopping 29 shots on Tuesday in a 4-1 victory over the Blackhawks, stopping all 12 shots he faced from the Islanders in the first period tonight, which started with a massive blocker save on Marc Gatcomb in the opening minutes.

The Islanders' fourth line was responsible for the early opportunity under three minutes into the contest when Kyle MacLean sauced a backhand pass over the stick of Darnell Nurse off the rush to open up a clean look for Gatcomb in front, but Ingram made a terrific blocker save to keep it level early.

"It felt like the opposite of that Chicago game, honestly," Ingram said. "I thought especially the second and third period, we really took over. Some days the bounces are going to go your way, and sometimes they're not."

Then it was Sorokin's turn to follow suit, denying Hyman with an emphatic save on the goal line after the winger was found out front by McDavid on the second chance after the Oilers' captain and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins couldn't connect on a two-on-one almost five minutes after Ingram's first big save.

Coming into Thursday's matchup, Sorokin's 14-11-2 record with a .911 save percentage and 2.57 goals against average for the Islanders in 2025-26 has been a big reason why they're currently holding down the second spot in the Metropolitan Division despite being 21st in goals scored in the NHL this season.

Ingram continued to battle in the Oilers' crease past the midway mark by getting his toe to a tricky save against Adam Boqvist off the rush before stopping Gatcomb again in his tracks from in close to the left of the crease. On the ensuing goal-mouth scramble in the crease, the puck came out to rookie sensation Matt Schaefer for a chance on a quick shot from the top of the circles with bodies in front, but it was blocked by his own teammate.

The 18-year-old defenceman was also a first-overall selection from the OHL's Erie Otters like Connor McDavid, and already has 13 goals and 17 assists in 46 career NHL games. With three more this season, he would tie him for the most goals by an 18-year-old defenceman with Phil Housley in 2000-01.

SECOND PERIOD

Despite everything thrown at Sorokin through two periods, including 12 more shots from the Oilers and a power play late in the middle frame, the Russian netminder remained perfect to keep it scoreless after an active stanza from the hosts had them looking dangerous on a few occasions.

After Sorokin thwarted Hyman's chance earlier in the game that was set up by McDavid, it was Kasperi Kapanen who became his next victim early in the second when his wide-open attempt in front that was made possible by another sublime pass by the captain from below the goal line was stopped in tight.

The Oilers recorded the first eight shots of the frame before the Islanders broke the streak almost six minutes after the intermission, but it was the Oilers who continued to attack the blue paint, where Hyman had another incredible look at breaking Sorokin's shutout and wondered how he didn't score.

Draisaitl found Hyman's tape with a pass as he battled for positioning with a defenceman in the blue paint before pushing the puck five-hole on Sorokin, but it somehow managed to fall wide of the post to send it back into the corner on another high-danger chance for the winger that went unconverted.

With 1:18 of power-play time to finish the frame, the Oilers couldn't break the deadlock before the intermission and would carry over the remaining time into the third period for a chance to start the final 20 minutes off on the right now by making use of the final 42 seconds of the man advantage.

Edmonton had a review go their way on a first-of-its-kind in Rogers Place when the Oilers challenged a delay of game penalty assessed to Spencer Stastney for apparently putting the puck over the glass, only for it to be overturned when it showed the puck clearly touched the glass before exiting the play.

But the Islanders did eventually get their power play with eight minutes left on an unfortunate trip committed by Draisaitl, who made a strong move to get around Schaefer, only to get his stick caught under his skate blade to put the Oilers down five-on-four with eight minutes left in regulation.

It was only fitting for the Islanders to convert on their only man advantage, beating Ingram on a sweet exchange of passes around his crease that saw Calum Ritchie take a feed from Mat Barzal before he spun 180 degrees and found Anthony Duclair for the quick release and finish to make it 1-0 with 6:18 left.

On Edmonton's last-ditch attempt with their net empty, there was still time for Sorokin's final insult on a Draisaitl one-timer from the right circle that looked labelled for the back of the net before the netminder got a piece of the puck with his glove, effectively sealing the Islanders' one-goal victory.

THIRD PERIOD

That's how these nights tend to do.

When you find yourself facing a hot goalie at the other side, it usually doesn't end well.

"We had our good looks, maybe over 30 shots, but for the most part of that game we got to it, and sometimes that happens," Walman said. "You run into a hot goalie, and it was a goaltending game today."

The Oilers did think they'd beaten Sorokin for the 1-0 lead early in the final frame on the 42 seconds of carryover time they had left on the power play, when Leon Draisaitl's cross-ice pass to Evan Bouchard looked like it'd gone off the crossbar and in before bouncing back out and under the legs of the netminder.

The referee signalled for a goal as Nugent-Hopkins tried to dig out the puck from under Sorokin to put it in for good measure, but an official review showed the puck never crossed the goal line to keep it scoreless past the first minute of the third period.

Edmonton had a review go their way on a first-of-its-kind in Rogers Place when the Oilers challenged a delay of game penalty assessed to Spencer Stastney for apparently putting the puck over the glass, only for it to be overturned when it showed the puck clearly touched the glass before exiting the play.

But the Islanders did eventually get their power play with eight minutes left on an unfortunate trip committed by Draisaitl, who made a strong move to get around Schaefer, only to get his stick caught under his skate blade to put the Oilers down five-on-four with eight minutes left in regulation.

It was only fitting for the Islanders to convert on their only man advantage, beating Ingram on a sweet exchange of passes around his crease that saw Calum Ritchie take a feed from Mat Barzal before he spun 180 degrees and found Anthony Duclair for the quick release and finish to make it 1-0 with 6:18 left.

On Edmonton's last-ditch attempt with their net empty, there was still time for Sorokin's final insult on a Draisaitl one-timer from the right circle that looked labelled for the back of the net before the netminder got a piece of the puck with his glove, effectively sealing the Islanders' one-goal victory.

Draisaitl's thwarted chance late in regulation was the epitome of Edmonton's evening.

"99 (times) out of 100 he's making that," Walman said. "I think keep giving him that puck in that same spot, he'll get the next one."

"You almost look back and think, 'Yeah, sometimes it goes that way.' When we had our looks, we ran into a hot goalie, and I'm sure a bunch of us probably want to have a couple looks back and try again."