Sorokin, Shesterkin ready to team up at 2023 NHL All-Star Weekend

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Ilya Sorokin didn't hold back on his buddy.

"He's a bad shooter," the New York Islanders goalie said at the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game Media Day on Thursday. "Terrible."
Igor Shesterkin wasn't about to take that without giving some of it back.
"No," the New York Rangers goalie said, laughing out loud. "Unfortunately, he's so bad. If we had a soccer net, maybe he can score."
Shesterkin and Sorokin joke around and laugh at each other's expense because they are so close that their friendship easily stands the test of even something that can get as intense, fierce and unrelenting at times as the Rangers-Islanders rivalry.
That they are teammates here at 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend, the two goalies for the Metropolitan Division, is a dream come true for the 27-year-old Russians who have brought new life to the New York hockey rivalry.
They will also participate together in the Discover NHL Tendy Tandem during the 2023 NHL All-Star Skills presented by DraftKings Sportsbook at FLA Live Arena on Friday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).
"It's amazing," Shesterkin said. "When we met 10 or 11 years ago, if I told him we are going to be in an NHL All-Star Game in 10 years he'd say, 'Come on, it's a joke.' He's a great guy."
Sorokin is the godfather to Shesterkin's son, Timofey.
The two goalies arrived at NHL All-Star Weekend after vacationing together down the road in Miami.
Shesterkin had Sorokin and Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov at his house for Christmas dinner this year.
"We try to help each other out not only in the hockey rink, but in life too," Shesterkin said. "If something happens, we can call each other."
The fact that Sorokin plays for the Islanders and Shesterkin the Rangers only matters to them when they're playing each other.
"We're not friends on the ice," Sorokin said. "Friendship is over when we go play against him. After the game, yes we can meet, we can laugh, but on the ice, not friends."
It's also not new to them to be on rival teams. They were in Russia's Kontinental Hockey League too; Sorokin on CSKA Moscow and Shesterkin on SKA St. Petersburg.
"Always too much pressure for those games, big games," Shesterkin said.
It's the same now with the Rangers and Islanders.
"Yeah, because our fans want to beat the Islanders fans," Shesterkin said.
But, man, do they have quite the difference in opinion on the role each should play when they participate in the Tendy Tandem on Friday.
One of them has to be designated the shooting goalie and the other the in-net goalie.
The shooting goalie will earn points based on the accuracy of his shots at the net. The in-net goalie will face rushes of three, two or one player(s) based on the number of points earned by the shooting goalie.
The shooters are women's hockey stars Alex Carpenter, Hilary Knight, Emily Clark, Rebecca Johnston and Sarah Nurse.
"I hope I'm the shooter," Sorokin said. "We have more chance to win if he will stay in the net. I told him. He's not listening to me."
Shesterkin most definitely is not. He insists that he absolutely has to be the shooter.
"Everybody knows, except him," Shesterkin said. "Can somebody explain to him? Maybe he doesn't understand what he has to do."
Sorokin did relent when asked if he is as good of a shooter as Shesterkin.
"Not yet," he said. "Not yet."
He stressed the word yet, just like many people around the NHL stress it when they say Shesterkin hasn't scored a goal.
YET.
He has, however, come within inches of doing it twice, missing wide left against the Ottawa Senators last season and last week, against the Florida Panthers at Madison Square Garden, on Jan. 23.
"I was mad at myself," Shesterkin said of his most recent miss against the Panthers. "I thought I would get a chance and, scoring in Madison Square Garden, I think it's the dream for everybody, not only for goalies."
Twelve goalies have combined to score the 15 NHL goalie goals in history. Pekka Rinne is the last to do it, scoring for the Nashville Predators on Jan. 9, 2020. Evgeni Nabokov is the only Russian to do it, scoring for the San Jose Sharks on March 10, 2002.
Shesterkin could very well be the next.
"If that happens, I will be so happy," he said.
So will Sorokin. He might even be happier for his buddy.
"He's just a good person," Shesterkin said.
Except, of course, for Sorokin's opinion on him as a shooter.
"His jokes are terrible," Shesterkin said.