Like most individuals who buy insurance, the Islanders hoped they wouldn’t need it.
But as Marcus Hogberg, the likely No. 3 goalie for the organization this season, made his preseason debut for the club Sunday, the stakes were a bit of higher than anyone would have liked — a function of Ilya Sorokin’s offseason back surgery that has up to now kept him out of coaching camp.
While general manager Lou Lamoriello has said Sorokin isn’t expected to miss time in the beginning of the season, query marks across the star netminder’s health can be there until they’re answered via his presence on the ice.
Ergo, Hogberg’s solid 15 of 17 performance through the primary half of Sunday’s 4-2 win over the Devils was a bit more noteworthy than anyone would have figured just a few months ago.
“Overall pretty good game and in fact I can do higher,” Hogberg said. “I wasn’t square enough to make the save on [Jesper] Bratt, the second goal there. Five-hole.”
Still, through just a few hairy stretches early in the sport because the Islanders struggled within the defensive zone, Hogberg stood as much as pressure well.
Jakub Skarek, who replaced him for the sport’s second half, stopped all eight shots he saw.
“They were each excellent,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We had a pair moments in the primary, I assumed we gave up too many scoring probabilities, so Hogberg played very well, kept the sport at 1-0 [after New Jersey scored first]. He was good on those rebounds, kept the puck near him. Skarek got here in, I assumed he did well, as well.”
Hogberg, a 29-year-old Swede, spent the last three seasons with Linkoping HC within the Swedish League and compiled a .914 save percentage in 2023-24.
That got here after spending 2017-21 with Ottawa, where he often shuttled between the NHL squad and AHL Belleville, never putting up a greater save percentage than .904 with the Senators, which he did in 2019-20.
For the Islanders, who’ve avoided playing their No. 3 netminders to the purpose of overworking others when an injury has happened over the past couple seasons, the introduction of a trustworthy third goaltender was high on the offseason to-do list.
The importance of that was only amplified by the news around Sorokin.
Hogberg still must beat out a bunch that features Skarek, Henrik Tikkanen and PTO signee Keith Kinkaid in camp to solidify himself because the third guy on the depth chart, but stands as the favourite amongst that group.
The Islanders rolled out a squad composed largely of NHLers for his or her first preseason game.
Brock Nelson centered a top line with Simon Holmstrom and Kyle Palmieri on either side.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau skated between Anders Lee and Oliver Wahlstrom while Kyle MacLean was with Maxim Tsyplakov and Julien Gauthier.
Like most individuals who buy insurance, the Islanders hoped they wouldn’t need it.
But as Marcus Hogberg, the likely No. 3 goalie for the organization this season, made his preseason debut for the club Sunday, the stakes were a bit of higher than anyone would have liked — a function of Ilya Sorokin’s offseason back surgery that has up to now kept him out of coaching camp.
While general manager Lou Lamoriello has said Sorokin isn’t expected to miss time in the beginning of the season, query marks across the star netminder’s health can be there until they’re answered via his presence on the ice.
Ergo, Hogberg’s solid 15 of 17 performance through the primary half of Sunday’s 4-2 win over the Devils was a bit more noteworthy than anyone would have figured just a few months ago.
“Overall pretty good game and in fact I can do higher,” Hogberg said. “I wasn’t square enough to make the save on [Jesper] Bratt, the second goal there. Five-hole.”
Still, through just a few hairy stretches early in the sport because the Islanders struggled within the defensive zone, Hogberg stood as much as pressure well.
Jakub Skarek, who replaced him for the sport’s second half, stopped all eight shots he saw.
“They were each excellent,” coach Patrick Roy said. “We had a pair moments in the primary, I assumed we gave up too many scoring probabilities, so Hogberg played very well, kept the sport at 1-0 [after New Jersey scored first]. He was good on those rebounds, kept the puck near him. Skarek got here in, I assumed he did well, as well.”
Hogberg, a 29-year-old Swede, spent the last three seasons with Linkoping HC within the Swedish League and compiled a .914 save percentage in 2023-24.
That got here after spending 2017-21 with Ottawa, where he often shuttled between the NHL squad and AHL Belleville, never putting up a greater save percentage than .904 with the Senators, which he did in 2019-20.
For the Islanders, who’ve avoided playing their No. 3 netminders to the purpose of overworking others when an injury has happened over the past couple seasons, the introduction of a trustworthy third goaltender was high on the offseason to-do list.
The importance of that was only amplified by the news around Sorokin.
Hogberg still must beat out a bunch that features Skarek, Henrik Tikkanen and PTO signee Keith Kinkaid in camp to solidify himself because the third guy on the depth chart, but stands as the favourite amongst that group.
The Islanders rolled out a squad composed largely of NHLers for his or her first preseason game.
Brock Nelson centered a top line with Simon Holmstrom and Kyle Palmieri on either side.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau skated between Anders Lee and Oliver Wahlstrom while Kyle MacLean was with Maxim Tsyplakov and Julien Gauthier.
