Barry Trotz has had a feeling this was coming from Ilya Sorokin.

The goalie recorded his third shutout of the season on Saturday in Winnipeg over the Jets, but Trotz said even dating back to last season, he knew what Sorokin was capable of.

“I don’t think it’s surprising. You saw it last year, you saw it in the playoffs. … He could have five shutouts," Trotz told reporters after the Islanders 2-0 win. "He’s got good rhythm and he’s a quality goaltender, and we have two of them."

But a part of Sorokin's success, Trotz said, is the talent that's in front of him.

"I think the way we’ve got some structure to our game that allows them to play and trust that we’re gonna get our job done away from the puck and all that."

The Isles also blocked 19 shots before Sorokin could even make a play on them.

“We always look at it as a team effort. We know our goaltenders are very strong and very capable, but you look at certain stats where you can tell your team is playing as a team and playing and have commitment to each other...

"When I look at our team, I’ll look at scoring chances, which were way down today, and you look at our blocked shots are way up. Our puck management was pretty concise for the most part, and our execution was good. There was a lot of good things to like about our game. I think we’re hopefully getting a little of rhythm here. I thought we were a little rusty in Montreal, and hopefully get a little rhythm going forward here."

The Islanders will be back in action on Sunday in the second half of a back-to-back in Minnesota against the Wild at 8 p.m.

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