Islanders' Semyon Varlamov not sweating playoff pressure
New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov looks on against the Carolina Hurricanes during overtime in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series at UBS Arena on Saturday, April 27, 2024. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Semyon Varlamov turned 36 on Saturday, which converted from professional hockey player years to regular-person years is about 72.
So it makes sense that after 16 NHL seasons, Varlamov these days exudes a calm presence in goal that everyone takes note of, including his coach with the Islanders, Hall of Fame goaltender Patrick Roy.
But Roy knows this is nothing new and is not age-dependent.
Roy coached Varlamov with the Avalanche for three seasons starting in 2013-14, when he went 41-14-6 with a 2.41 goals-against average and finished second for the Vezina Trophy and fourth for the Hart Trophy as league MVP.
“He was like this in Colorado,” Roy said on Sunday as he prepared for Game 5 of the Islanders’ first-round playoff series against the Hurricanes on Tuesday night. “You should have seen him play the first year I was there.
“He should have won the Vezina. He was big in the net. He was moving well. Right now, he’s a bit like me. We’re not moving as fast side to side, so we have to read the plays a little different. [Roy is 58.]
“But he’s big in the net. He’s playing with so much confidence right now, and it brings confidence to our guys as well.”
Varlamov began the season as the clear No. 2 behind Ilya Sorokin. But Roy, whom the Islanders hired in January, went primarily with Varlamov as the Islanders surged to an 8-0-1 finish that got them into the playoffs.
After Varlamov lost the first two games against Carolina, Roy rolled the dice by starting Sorokin in Game 3 and lost big.
He pulled Sorokin 7:14 into the second period after the goalie allowed three scores. Varlamov came in and allowed nothing in a 3-2 Islanders loss.
Come Game 4, Varlamov was back and looked good on his birthday, leading the Islanders to a 3-2 double-overtime victory.
Watch him closely and the calm everyone talks about is evident.
Usually, people mean “calm” in the sense of economical movement, an imperturbability in and around the net. But sometimes he takes that to extremes.
There was a moment in the Islanders’ zone in Game 4 when I thought play had stopped because Varlamov appeared to be leaning on a goalpost, taking a break.
But no, the skaters were still moving and the clock still was ticking. I suppose he figured he would get ready when he needed to get ready.
“Varly just being a veteran,” Mathew Barzal said Sunday. “He’s obviously been through numerous situations throughout his career, ups and downs, and he seems to just be even keel at every stop.
“He’s an awesome teammate, and he’s been a rock for us every time he’s been in the net.”
Barzal also was careful to praise Sorokin when asked about Varlamov, something players and Roy consistently do regarding the goaltending tandem.
“You’re lucky when you have two very good goaltenders,” Roy said.
Said Barzal, “For both those guys, I think any situation that presents itself to them, they’re going to be able to handle it just fine.”
Sorokin is signed through 2031-32 and Varlamov through ’26-27, so neither is going anywhere anytime soon.
Varlamov has proved he can handle any role, from backup to potentially the first Islanders goalie to lead a comeback from a 3-0 series deficit since Glenn “Chico” Resch in 1975.
Resch was not the laid-back player and is not the laid-back person that Varlamov is.
“He is calm,” Roy said of Varlamov. “Every day I see him, he’s calm and he’s very confident right now. I could see in his body language.”
It’s Varly’s series, and thus Varly’s season. Don’t expect to see him sweat.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
