Semyon Varlamov on Isles' shutout streak: 'This is beautiful'
Travis Zajac #14 of the Islanders skates during warmups prior to his game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Nassau Coliseum on April 8, 2021. Credit: Getty Images/Al Bello
Semyon Varlamov was quick to thank his teammates after entering the Islanders’ record book.
The goalie pushed his career-high shutout streak to 213:56 in Saturday night’s playoff-clinching, 3-0, win over the Rangers at Nassau Coliseum.
He passed Chico Resch’s former club mark of 178:29, set in 1975-76, less than six minutes into the second period.
"This is a great achievement, for sure," said Varlamov, who leads the NHL with seven shutouts and improved to 5-1-0 with a 0.67 goals-against average and a .976 save percentage against the Rangers.
He became the first goalie in the league’s expansion era – since 1967-68 – to shut out one opponent four times in a season.
"You know, this is a team sport and there’s no way I could do this without my brothers," Varlamov said. "They work hard for me every game. They’ve been playing outstanding in front of me. I appreciate everything they do for me.
"This is beautiful."
Isles files
The Islanders went 6-2-0 in the season series and killed 22 of the Rangers’ 23 power plays in the eight games…Brock Nelson played in his 296th consecutive game, moving past injured captain Anders Lee for third place on the Islanders’ all-time list…Barry Trotz kept his lineup intact so Travis Zajac was a healthy scratch for a second straight game and for the third time since being acquired from the Devils on April 7…Kyle Palmieri left the ice bleeding after being hit by defenseman Noah Dobson’s power-play shot at 11:53 of the second period. Palmieri returned to start the third period…Jean-Gabriel Pageau went to the Islanders’ dressing room at 3:19 of the third period and did not return to play, though he was back on the bench at 17:44. Trotz said Pageau went to get taped and could have returned to play if the game’s outcome was still undecided.
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.
