3 takeaways from the Islanders' win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden

The Islanders opened this seven-game road trip that continues on Monday night against the Devils at Prudential Center with a 5-0 win over the Rangers on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Bo Horvat continued his scorching start with his 11th goal in 15 games, tied for second in the NHL, as the Islanders improved to 7-6-2 with coach Patrick Roy shuffling all of his lines and defense pairs.

Here are three takeaways from the bounce-back victory, which followed Friday night’s stale 5-2 loss to the Wild at UBS Arena:

1. Now that’s Ilya Sorokin

Sorokin’s 33-save shutout – his first shutout of the season and 23rd of his career, moving him into second place on the Islanders’ all-time list behind Chico Resch’s 25 – continued his upward trend. After allowing four goals in five of his first seven starts – and having goalie coach Piero Greco fired in favor of Sorokin’s KHL goalie coach, Sergei Naumovs – he has improved to 4-4-2 with a 3.00 goals-against average and an .893 save percentage through a 2-0-1 stretch in which he’s allowed four goals.

“I feel like he’s playing with a lot of confidence,”  Roy said. “We made the coach change and I think he’s very comfortable with Sergei and they seem to connect really well.”

Sorokin said his working relationship with Naumovs is different in the NHL because there are fewer practices.

“We don’t have time like in the KHL,” Sorokin said. “It’s more games here. We’ll see. We just started working.”

2. Ryan Pulock can help Matthew Schaefer, and vice versa

Roy put Schaefer, the No. 1 overall pick, with Pulock on a clear top pair. Both played more than 24 minutes.

Pulock, who still has a blistering slap shot from the point, can act as a defensive anchor for the two and provide steady mentorship for the 18-year-old. Scott Mayfield had that role through training camp and the first 14 games but cannot play the type of minutes Roy will entrust to Pulock.

Schaefer, meanwhile, can use his elite skating and on-ice vision to help unlock Pulock’s offensive production. Defensively, Schaefer’s speed allows him to get back quickly, something the  defensively solid but  slower Pulock is not always able to do if he’s aggressive up ice.

“Sometimes when it’s not going as good, you have to try something,” said Pulock, who had been skating with his longtime defense partner, Adam Pelech. “Playing with [Schaefer], you just try to give him the puck and the kid can skate. As time goes and we play a little more together, we can get more comfortable.”

3. The Islanders still must be better

Facing the Metropolitan Division-leading Devils is just part of a challenging road trip. The Islanders next play Vegas, currently third in the Pacific Division and considered one of the Western Conference’s top Stanley Cup contenders, on Thursday. Then they face playoff-contending Utah the next night before heading to Colorado for their first game against former Islander Brock Nelson with the Avalanche currently leading the Central Division. The Islanders also will play at Dallas, second behind Colorado, and Detroit before returning home.

In other words, the Islanders still need to step up their consistency and cut down on their turnovers.

By Andrew Gross

andrew.gross@newsday.comAGrossNewsday

Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.