MONTREAL — The Islanders did not practice here Friday, meaning there were no clues on offer as to how they’ll approach the goaltending decisions over a must-win weekend back-to-back that begins Saturday against the Canadiens.
Conventional wisdom would dictate that Ilya Sorokin and David Rittich split the two games, but given how Sorokin has handled playing on consecutive days, that may not be a guarantee.
The Islanders haven’t needed Sorokin to play two straight days this season, but he did so four times last year, winning both games twice, losing both games once and splitting the pair once.
Rittich has been good enough for most of the season to keep the Islanders from giving Sorokin too heavy a workload — the Russian has started 43 of 69 games this season — but the backup netminder has flagged since the new year.
Over his past 10 starts, Rittich has an .861 save percentage, though his last outing, a 3-2 win over Calgary in which he stopped 30 shots, was his best since early January.
Is that enough to trust him against either Montreal or Columbus, two four-point games in a playoff race where the Islanders got a shock to the system on Thursday night when they fell below the cutline following a loss to the Senators?
How Patrick Roy handles it bears watching, but all year long, Sorokin has been the Islanders’ rock.
His six shutouts lead the league, and he’s second only to Washington’s Logan Thompson in Evolving Hockey’s goals saved above expected metric.
Even Thursday, Sorokin kept the Isles in the game when they were outgunned the entire third period, getting over to make a ridiculous stop on Michael Amadio on a 2-on-1 late in the third.
If the decision is to split the starts, then who gets which game is equally as interesting.
The Columbus game Sunday means slightly more since the Blue Jackets and Islanders share a division.
The Islanders could use that logic to save Sorokin for the second game of the back-to-back, but would they dare leave him on the bench Saturday, when he has a .939 save percentage and zero regulation losses in eight career tries against the Canadiens?
Then again, Sorokin has never lost in regulation to the Blue Jackets — he’s 7-0-3 against Columbus.
His .916 save percentage against the Jackets, though, is the exact same as Rittich’s.
Decisions, decisions.