Semyon Varlamov’s opportunities are limited through no fault of his own.
But he is making the absolute most of every chance he has right now.
So far, that means in three starts in goal for the Islanders — with Ilya Sorokin taking the other six — Varlamov has turned in a pair of shutouts, already matching his yearly total from each of the past two seasons.
“It’s just the beginning,” a happy Varlamov said in the Capital One Arena dressing room Thursday night following a 3-0 victory over Washington. “It’s a long, long season. I just have to continue to play well, and then every time I have a chance to play, I try to play my best and give a chance to our team to win a hockey game.”
The Islanders are so heavily predicated on Sorokin that it’s sometimes easy to forget about Varlamov, who has been every bit as good as his counterpart.
Although Sorokin has been the No. 1 goaltender for a long time — Varlamov played just 23 games last year and 31 the year prior — this is the first time that the expectation before the season has been for Sorokin to play such a heavy majority of games.
In each of the past two seasons, remember, the split was exacerbated by injuries to Varlamov.
The 35-year-old, who started his career in Washington, has been completely content with that arrangement.
He is one of Sorokin’s biggest supporters and would not have agreed to a four-year deal to stay on Long Island over the summer if he wasn’t OK with playing a backup role.
But for those who wondered why the Islanders were making a $2.75 million annual commitment to their backup goaltender, Varlamov has provided an answer.
“He’s just calm,” coach Lane Lambert said. “He’s very positional and he’s sound that way. He’s keeping things in front of him and he’s square. He’s playing well.”
The Islanders owe a lot of their 5-2-2 start to goaltending, and rarely was that more evident than Thursday night.
They were outshot and out-chanced by the Capitals and it wasn’t particularly close until the third period.
But by then, the Islanders already had a 3-0 lead.
That came in no small part because Varlamov was stalwart in nets, turning aside all 32 shots he saw.
“I expect it’s going to be a hard game,” Varlamov said. “You come in and play against Washington, a skilled team with the best player in the world, you expect it to be a tough game. We came out pretty strong, score right away and then we didn’t want to give up a goal in the first 10 minutes. It’s much easier to play with the lead.”
It is probably generous of Varlamov to refer to Alex Ovechkin as the best player in the world when he is now 38 years old and has just two goals so far this season, one being an empty-netter.
Ovechkin was on the ice for all three Islanders goals Thursday and had just three of his own shots get on net.
Still, it was special for Varlamov to come out on top against a player he so admires.
“He’s scored a few on me. He already scored a few on me and then every time he’s scoring, he gets very pumped up about it,” Varlamov said. “What can I say? Of course, it’s nice to not give up the goals from him, knowing that before the game you’re thinking about it, like you’re going to play against him and he’s probably going to have at least 10 shots on the net. So you always try to prepare for his shot and then try to stay focused every time he’s on the ice.”
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