State Your Case: Best All-Star Game goalie tandem

The greatest goal-scorers in the NHL will be on the ice for the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; ABC, ESPN+, CBC, SN, TVAS).

Stars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers, David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins, Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals will be looking to fill the nets.
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But they will be facing some of the top goalies in the NHL, with Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers and Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders representing the Metropolitan Division, Linus Ullmark of the Bruins and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning playing for the Atlantic Division, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets and Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators in goal for the Central Division and Logan Thompson of the Vegas Golden Knights and Stuart Skinner of the Oilers defending for the Pacific Division.
Which goalie tandem is the best one and will shine in Florida? That's the question before NHL.com staff writer David Satriano and Editor-in-Chief Bill Price in this installment of State Your Case.
Satriano:Like Frank Sinatra sang, it's "New York, New York" for me. As in, I'm taking the two goalies from the Metropolitan Division who both play in New York. We'll start with Shesterkin, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner voted as the top goalie in the NHL. He hasn't slowed down this season with 21 wins, a 2.45 goals-against average and .918 save percentage. Sorokin has a 2.38 GAA and .923 save percentage and his four shutouts are tied with Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars for second in the NHL. I know there are some other great goalies on some other teams, but this tandem is tops for me.

Price:Being the gentleman I am, I let David have first pick and I'm not shocked by his selection. Well, my pick may be a shocker. I'm going with the Central Division tandem of Hellebuyck and Saros. That's correct, I'm taking those two over Vasilevskiy and Ullmark from the Atlantic Division. Here's why: Hellebuyck and Saros might be the two most underrated goalies in the NHL and given a chance to shine on the big stage, they will be ready. They better be, facing the Pacific Division in the first game, and I feel a win there will give them the confidence in the final. Shesterkin and Sorokin are the headline-grabbing picks, and Vasilevskiy and Ullmark could be the best two goalies in the NHL, but I'll take Hellebuyck and Saros.

Satriano:The Central definitely has two veterans who have had plenty of success with Hellebuyck a 2020 Vezina winner and Saros a finalist last season. Since the start of 2021-22, they rank first and second in the NHL in starts, saves and shots against, and there's no arguing from me that Vasilevskiy is the best goalie in the NHL. But what we've seen out of Shesterkin and Sorokin, each 27 years old, the past two seasons is something to behold. Sorokin leads all goalies in save percentage (.928, minimum 50 games) and Shersterkin is third (.924). Sorokin also tops the NHL in that span with 11 shutouts, and I can't wait to see what dazzling saves they make against the likes of Nikita Kucherov, Pastrnak and the rest of the Atlantic Division in their first game. If they make it to the final, that would just be a bonus.

Price:There is no doubt Shesterkin and Sorokin have been incredible the past two seasons, but this All-Star Game is a different animal, and as you pointed out, Hellebuyck (third All-Star Game) and Saros (second) have been here before, and this is new for Shesterkin and Sorokin. In fact, Vasilevskiy is the only other goalie besides Hellebuyck and Saros to have any NHL All-Star Game experience. And if you want to look at the stats, Hellebuyck is tied for second with Sorokin and Oettinger in save percentage (.923) among goalies to play at least 20 games. Ullmark (.936) is first and Saros (.920) is tied with Alexandar Georgiev of the Avalanche for sixth. Again, I'll be relying on experience here. Though it would be great to see this debate settled one the ice in the All-Star Game final, whatever matchup we get will be a great one for the fans.