The New York Islanders’ Ilya Sorokin has joined the exclusive club of goalie goal scorers — under the most unique circumstances.
Late in the third period of New York’s game against Nashville on Saturday, the Predators — trailing 6-4 — were pressing in the Islanders’ end. Sorokin came up with a big save that rebounded a puck out to Nashville forward Steven Stamkos. He tried sending a pass back to the blue line that skipped past a teammate and went all the way into Nashville’s empty net.
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The Predators fell to the Islanders 7-4.
That final poor sequence by Nashville resulted in Sorokin, as the last Islander to touch the puck, being credited with the first goal of his career. That made Sorokin just the second Islanders goalie with a goal to his name and one of only 17 NHL goalies to have scored.
“If I had shot it [into] the goal, it might be a different emotion,” Sorokin joked after the game. “But this was just luck. It was a good save before the [goal], though. I wasn’t sure I was the last one [to touch it]. It’s hockey; it happens.”
The Islanders’ win put Sorokin at 21-18-4 on the season, with a .905 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average.
Sorokin is the third NHL goalie to score a goal this season after Pittsburgh’s Alex Nedeljkovic tallied one against Buffalo on Jan.18 and Filip Gustavsson scored on St. Louis in October. The 2024-25 season is the first in NHL history where multiple goalies have been credited with goals.
