Andrew Gross: Will Ilya Sorokin or Semyon Varlamov start in goal against the Rangers? The Islanders hope there's no wrong answer.
Ilya Sorokin and Semyon Varlamov of the Islanders skate in warm-ups prior to the game against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Sept. 22. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
The Islanders are counting on the who-will-start-in-net question having no wrong answers this season.
It’s being asked for the first time now after Ilya Sorokin split the first two games, including a shutout in the home opener. But Semyon Varlamov came off the ice first after Monday’s practice at Northwell Heath Ice Center in East Meadow, which would seemingly indicate his remarkable comeback journey from two partial knee replacement surgeries is about to take the next step with his first NHL regular-season start since Nov. 29, 2024.
But Varlamov just smiled and declined to comment when asked if Tuesday night against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden would be the big day. If not, it will certainly be Thursday against Chicago at UBS Arena.
“No,” Pete DeBeor said when asked if he was a coach who divulged his starting goalie a day in advance. “If you ask me [Tuesday] I probably will.”
So we wait, thinking the Islanders’ chances against the Rangers might be pretty much the same with either Varlamov or Sorokin in net. DeBoer and general manager Mathieu Darche have said if the Islanders are to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2024, Varlamov will have to make 25-30 quality starts.
Yet until Varlamov makes that first start, he’s still just a 38-year-old goalie that hasn’t played for nearly two seasons. We have to see it to fully believe it.
But at least backing up Sorokin and feeling the rhythm and pace of the game from the bench for Wednesday’s 2-1 season-opening loss in Toronto and Saturday’s 6-0 win over the Devils at UBS Arena has made the game day routine feel, well, more routine.
“I was looking forward to that,” Varlamov said. “Getting a game as a backup and feeling the atmosphere. I had that experience in Toronto and the home opener. It was really good for me. Emotional stuff. It’s been a while. So I was very excited about being part of the team.”
Speaking of emotions, don’t discount what the thunderous ovation the UBS Arena crowd honored Varlamov with during the pregame player introductions on Saturday meant to him. He’s been welcomed back even before making a start.
There are solid arguments to start either goalie on Tuesday.
“They just build off of each other,” Matthew Schaefer told Newsday. “They’re so good and they’re so fun to work with. They’re great goalies and they save you a lot of times. We’ve got to be better [defensively].”
Still, Sorokin made 37 saves against the Devils for his team record 30th career shutout and it’s tough to sit a goalie after that kind of performance. Sorokin, too, always loves opposing his close buddy Igor Shesterkin.
Also reminding Shesterkin, who became the first Rangers goalie to score a goal with his empty-netter against the Lightning on Thursday, that he scored first. Shesterkin is the 18th netminder in NHL history to do so. Sorokin became the 17th on March 1, 2025, when he was credited after Steven Stamkos’ errant pass found the Predators’ net.
“It was a great shot, congratulations to him, he deserved it,” Sorokin said. “He tried it a lot of times and finally he scored. I hope he’s happy.”
Sorokin is 5-6-2 with a 3.00 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage lifetime against the Rangers, including a 3-5-1 mark at the Garden.
But the Islanders don’t want Varlamov waiting too long to play his first game with his last preseason appearance coming in a 6-1 loss to the Rangers at UBS Arena on Sept. 25. Plus, Varlamov carries a 14-8-2 career record against the Rangers — 10-3-1 at the Garden — with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage.
Rather than who would start on Tuesday, many of the questions the two Russian goalies were asked on Monday were about countryman Alex Ovechkin’s announcement he would retire from the Capitals and the NHL at the end of this season.
It should be noted these were purely hockey questions without any political overtones.
Both have ties to Ovechkin. Varlamov spent his first three NHL seasons as Ovechkin’s teammate in Washington and Sorokin yielded Ovechkin’s record 895th tally on April 6, 2025, as he surpassed Wayne Gretzky as the league’s all-time leading goal scorer.
“He’s a legend, an iconic player, the best scorer of all time and I can just go on and on,” said Varlamov, relating how Ovechkin helped ease his transition to North America when he came from Russia knowing no English. “He let me stay in his house for a few weeks. The man has a big heart.”
“He’s a Russian and NHL legend and it’s a pleasure playing at the same time in this league with a player like this,” Sorokin said.
One of those two will be revealed as Tuesday’s starter. The Islanders are counting on there not being a wrong answer as to which one.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
