5 Takeaways: Sorokin and Special Teams Help Isles Shut Out Penguins 2-0

The New York Islanders ended their miniseries with the Pittsburgh Penguins on a high note.
The Islanders beat the Penguins 2-0 on Sunday night, taking the sixth meeting of the month between the clubs and ending a four-game winless streak to the Penguins in the process. In addition to exacting some revenge against the flightless birds, the Islanders concluded a four-game homestand with a 3-0-1 record, improving to 7-0-2 at Nassau Coliseum this season.

Oliver Wahlstrom (1G, 1A) and JG Pageau scored power-play goals for the Islanders, while Ilya Sorokin made 20 saves and recorded his second-straight shutout in the win.
Here are five takeaways from a march over the Penguins.

SPECIAL TEAMS POWER WIN:

The Islanders special teams were among the best in the NHL in February and Sunday's game was a microcosm.
The Islanders scored on two of their first three power plays, with both goals coming from the Brock Nelson unit. Wahlstrom opened the scoring on the first man advantage, ripping a Nick Leddy feed past Casey DeSmith. Pageau made it 2-0 on the Islanders' third power play, taking a centering freed from Josh Bailey and quickly snapping it off Bryan Rust's stick and past DeSmith.
"You get on a role sometimes and get creating chances," Bailey said. "That's the main thing, you obviously want results, but as long as you're creating those chances, the result are going to come. It's nice to get rewarded with a couple."
While the Nelson unit was together for the duration, Trotz made one change to his other unit, rotating in two of: Anthony Beauvillier, Noah Dobson and Ryan Pulock throughout the game. Trotz said the effort was to get Beauvillier involved, since Wahlstrom has taken his place on the Nelson unit.
The power play went 2-for-5 on the night, and went 9-for-22 for a league-leading 40.9% conversion rate in the month of February.
While the power play provided offense, the Islanders' penalty kill also generated chances on Sunday. Casey Cizikas was denied on a partial breakaway late in the second period and Pageau's setup for Leo Komarov was knocked aside shortly after.
The shorthanded unit went 2-for-2 on the night and finished the month 23-for-27 for an 85.2% conversion rate, eighth in the NHL in February.

SOROKIN'S SECOND-STRAIGHT SHUTOUT:

Two-career wins, two-career shutouts for Ilya Sorokin.
Sorokin made 20 saves to pick up his second-straight shutout as a New York Islander. The Russian rookie became the first Isles freshman to score back-to-back shutouts since Chico Resch back in December of 1975 and the first Islander to record a shutout over the Penguins since Kelly Hrudey on Jan. 9, 1986.
Like his 20-save effort in Buffalo on Feb. 16, he wasn't overly busy, as he didn't see a shot for the first 15:51 of the contest before gloving a Pierre-Oliver Joseph wrister through traffic.
"It was teamwork," Sorokin said. "The defense and forwards made a lot of blocked shots that gave a lot of help to me. It was all teamwork."
Sorokin stopped two in the first period, eight in the second and 10 in the third, keeping a late Penguins push at bay. That infrequent action - coming off a long break between starts - highlighted Sorokin's focus, which Head Coach Barry Trotz praised.
"One of the toughest games to play is when you haven't been busy, it's easy to sort of let your mind wander," Trotz said. "Ilya did a really good job."
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With two shutouts, Sorokin improved his record to 2-2-1 with a 2.19 GAA and a .912 SV%.
"Every time he plays, he looks more and more comfortable, which is great," Trotz said.

GOOD DEFENSIVE GAME KEEPS PENGUINS STARS IN CHECK:

While Sorokin pitched his second-straight shutout, the Islanders did a good job making life easy for him in front.
The Islanders didn't allow a shot for the first 15 minutes of the contest, held Pittsburgh to five shots halfway through the game and to 20 overall on the night. The Islanders outshot the Penguins 25-10 after two periods, a good response after Saturday's overtime loss.
The Islanders made a point of targeting the Penguins' big guns of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, who had produced a bulk of the offense in the previous five matchups. All four of Letang's goals had come in the past two games vs the Islanders.
The plan worked, as the Islanders held all three without a point and to a combined five shots on goal.
"Those three guys were hurting us the most," Trotz said of the Penguins' stars. "That was a little bit of a challenge, they accepted the challenge and that's what this group does. They are not scared of challenges, they accepted it and got it done."

OLIVER WAHLSTROM CONTINUES TO WOW:

Oliver Wahlstrom seems to be hitting his stride with the Islanders, as he extended his point streak to four games with two more points on Sunday.
Wahlstrom ripped a one-timer far side past DeSmith to put the Islanders ahead with 39.7 seconds to play in the first period. The goal was Wahlstrom's third of the season and tied Nelson and Pageau with his for the team lead with his sixth power-play shot of February.
"It gives us a threat and obviously a shot," Trotz said of what Wahlstrom brings the power play. "It opens up options."
"His confidence just continues to grow and he just looks better and better," Bailey said of Wahlstrom. "He obviously has that big shot, which we saw tonight, abut playmaking too, for us, to use the whole zone has really opened things up. We're comfortable going to either side and making plays."
The rookie picked up a second point later in the game, earning a secondary assist on Pageau's power-play goal. Wahlstrom said his confidence has been building every day, and that his point streak only bolsters it.
"Every time I see my name in the lineup and see Barzal, Clutterbuck all those guys it's really eye-opening," Wahlstrom said. "I really take that to heart. It's unbelievable to be in the locker room with those guys. I get confidence from everybody in this locker room. It's been unbelievable so far."

SEE YOU LATER, PENGUINS:

After playing six times in February, the Islanders and Penguins are going to get a break from each other.
The Islanders went 2-2-2 against the Penguins in those six meetings, taking six of a possible 12 points, while the Penguins claimed eight. It was a close set of games, and the Islanders probably deserved a better fate than their record showed. They were 18 seconds away from a regulation win on Feb. 11, a game that turned in a 4-3 OT loss, outplayed the Penguins in a 3-2 regulation loss on Feb. 20 and never trailed in Saturday's 4-3 OT loss until the OT winner.
The two teams won't meet again until March 27 and 29 in Pittsburgh and barring any postponements, the Penguins will be the first team the Islanders finish a season series with. If they don't meet again in the postseason, Sunday will have marked Pittsburgh's 121st and final trip to Nassau Coliseum.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders head out on the road to take on the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night at Prudential Center. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.