NY Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin discusses his struggles in the shootout

Throughout his career with the NY Islanders, Ilya Sorokin has found ways of turning away shots that appear to be tap-in goals. While his acrobatics have been on full display, the two-time Vezina Trophy runner-up has struggled to find consistency in the shootout.

Though he finished 2-2 in the skills competition last season, Sorokin is 9-16 in his career in shootouts with a .645 SV%.

“It seems to be going well in training,” Sorokin told Alxey Shevchenko of sport-express.net (translated from Russian). “Shootouts are like fencing: who can outlast whom, who can outsmart whom. So far, it's mostly me who's outsmarted and outsmarted.”

But with Sorokin finding more success in the shootout last season, it appears the secret recipe was doing less between the pipes. 

“I used to constantly try to react to the player's movements,” Sorokin said. “Then I realized that there was no need to do that—you just had to wait."

While NHL players battle it out against one another on the ice, many have friendly relationships off the ice. Russian players typically train with one another during the off-season, whether in North America or in Russia.

“I was talking to Yegor Chinakhov, Sorokin said. “I asked, ‘When is it harder for you—when the goalie is twitching or, conversely, standing still?’ He said, ‘What's most annoying is when you don't react at all. I'm showing you something, and you just stand there.’"

The Islanders didn’t find themselves in the shootout too often last season, winning each game that ended in the OT period. Assuming they don’t find that success again this season, those shootout points could be the difference between making the playoffs and not, with much of that weight placed on Sorokin’s shoulders.

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