He did well until the soft game ender. I think the team, for some reason, played better with Sorokin in the net.
Varlamov or Sorokin. Whoever it is game 4 is a must win. We were down 2-1 to Pitt so its not like we haven't been here before. Just get a win on Saturday night and get this to 2-2 and go from there.
Isles get screwed bigtime, as they challenge a goal in which Marchand clearly interfered with Varlamov, and have another penalty kill when they lose it.
Interesting - the replay officials just officially showed that they don't know the rules. They told NBC that it wasn't goaltender interference because Varlamov wouldn't have made the save anyway. Even if that is true, it is irrelevant; the rule's definition is "If an attacking player initiates contact with a goalkeeper, incidental or otherwise, while the goalkeeper is in his goal crease, and a goal is scored, the goal will be disallowed." It is absolutely nowhere in the rules that the goal is only disallowed if the goalie could have made the save and was prevented from doing so. The Islanders were royally screwed.
Possibly the best minute of the entire season for the Islanders leads to the empty net goal. Absolutely brilliant play by Pageau, Clutterbuck, and Cizikas.
Pageau gets an empty net goal, and boy, did he deserve it. All tied up. Back at the barn next Wednesday.
It allows you to mimic having a power play (skating 6 on 5) when you're down by a goal or two, making it more likely that you'll score a goal. The idea is that losing 3-1 is no worse than losing 2-1, and if you don't pull the goalie, you're likely not to score and would lose 2-1. The benefit of scoring the tying goal is much higher than the cost of giving up an empty net goal. The numbers show that coaches are in fact too conservative in pulling the goalie, and should do so earlier than they do in general.
