Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov earns Game 4 win over Hurricanes on 36th birthday
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 is likely to remember his 36th birthday for some time.
The goalie made 42 saves as the Islanders kept the Hurricanes from sweeping the first-round series with a 3-2 double- overtime win in Game 4 at UBS Arena on Saturday afternoon. It marked the fifth time in his career that Varlamov made at least 40 saves in a playoff game.
“Awesome,” he said. “Awesome game. We’re still in it, which is very exciting. It was an unbelievable game. I saw [Mathew Barzal’s winner] and I was just happy. You don’t want to go to a second, third, fourth overtime. You want to finish the game as fast as you can.”
Varlamov made 17 saves in the back-and-forth first overtime. His economical style in net, positionally sound with not a lot of movement, brought a calm to his teammates.
“It does a lot,” said coach Patrick Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie. “He made himself a pretty nice birthday gift. He played the way he played. What I love about Varly right now is everything seems easy. He’s not over-moving. He’s square. He’s big in the net. To beat him, you need a good shot. You need a good play.”
At the buzzer
The clock had just expired on the first overtime when Hurricanes defenseman Dmitry Orlov elbowed Anders Lee in the face. The Islanders’ captain was incensed. He grabbed Orlov, setting off a skirmish that ended with four players in the penalty boxes to start the second overtime.
Orlov was called for elbowing and Lee, teammate Adam Pelech and the Hurricanes’ Jake Guentzel were called for roughing.
“He knows what he is doing,” Lee said of Orlov. “But all good. It is what it is.”
Barzal’s winner came 1:24 into the second overtime. Lee said it was the first time he could recall celebrating an overtime winner while sitting in the penalty box.
Renewed life
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour was asked if he felt the Islanders now had a “renewed life” in this series after getting their first win.
“Of course they do,” Brind’Amour said. “That’s only natural. They’re back in it. We gave them some hope here now. It’s tough to win four games in a row on someone, especially when the games are even like they are.”
Isles files
Center Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored his first playoff goal since June 5, 2021. “Did I look pumped?” Pageau said. “It’s always fun to contribute offensively.'' . . . Lee, who had the secondary assist on Pageau’s third-period power-play goal, is the only player for either team in the series with at least one point in all four games . . . The Islanders won 48 of 71 faceoffs (68%). Pageau went 19-for-23 (83%) . . . Defenseman Noah Dobson logged a game-high 32:55. Defenseman Alexander Romanov was on the ice for 32:05 and defenseman Ryan Pulock logged 30:29 . . . Defenseman Adam Pelech had six of the Islanders’ 22 blocked shots.
