Andrew Gross: Despite loss to Rangers, Semyon Varlamov is an inspiration to his Islanders' teammates
Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov looks on against the Rangers in the first period of an NHL hockey game at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Now is not the time to dissect the way Semyon Varlamov played. It is time to appreciate just that the Islanders goalie at age 38 played an NHL regular-season game for the first time in 676 days after two partial knee replacement surgeries.
Not that how he performed is not important. Varlamov was the first to say he was not pleased to allow a goal on the first shot he saw in a 5-2 loss to the Rangers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden that included two empty-net goals from Alexis Lafreniere.
“I was so proud of him,” captain Bo Horvat said. “The way he played, it’s not easy coming back and jumping right back into it, missing two years. I couldn’t imagine. We’re upset we couldn’t get that win for him.”
“Considering the circumstances, I thought he was a warrior for us in there today,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “I give him full marks for what he’s gone through to come back and this is the first step for him in a long season where he’s going to play a lot of games for us.”
Nobody, certainly not a 38-year-old goalie, has come back from partial knee replacement surgery, let alone two.
“A surgery no one’s really had before in professional sports,” said Kyle Palmieri, with Varlamov for many lonely days of rehab last season as Palmieri worked to come back from an ACL injury.
Really, there’s no way to accurately relate the enormity of Varlamov’s accomplishment stepping onto the Garden ice and starting for the first time since Nov. 29, 2024.
But the statistics must be relayed: Varlamov allowed three goals on 22 shots and was beaten twice to the short side by Oliver Bjorkstrand, at 8:40 of the first period on the Rangers’ first shot and on the power play at 17:07 of the second period to make it 3-2.
Varlamov called it an “emotional” night even as he sought to keep the emotions in check and out of his performance.
“I always just try to stay focused and not get too emotional about the game,” Varlamov said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the results, but the whole experience was awesome. Everything feels 100%. Nothing holds me back, which is great news.
“It’s not easy [not being emotional] when you haven’t played the game for a while. So many thoughts going through your head. How are you going to perform tonight? What’s going to happen. Just like thousands and thousands of thoughts going through your head during the day and before game. But your job as a goalie is to just put everything aside and stay focused on the game.”
So, yes, Varlamov did critique his outing.
“The first shot was a great shot,” Varlamov said. “He, a little bit, surprised me on that one, a short-side slapper. That’s not how you wanted to start the game.”
The truly amazing part of Varlamov’s story through training camp was it wasn’t evident he’d had both knees partially replaced. He moved well, got down into the butterfly and back up on his skates without issue.
But he’ll need to be better on his angles.
“It’s amazing, it’s a lot of emotion for him,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “For us, since I think his first day that he started his rehab, you could see it in his face that he was coming back. It was good inspiration for everyone.”
Varlamov is the final season of a four-year, $11 million deal. Nobody would have begrudged him if had chosen to take the money and retired rather than take on the unprecedented challenge of playing again after partial knee replacement surgery.
Instead, he ended last season starting two games for the Islanders’ AHL affiliate, then based in Bridgeport, Connecticut, including one AHL playoff match. He said he needed to play those two games to prove to the Islanders’ brass they could count on him as Ilya Sorokin’s backup for this season.
Varlamov appeared in two preseason games for the Islanders — playing the full game in his last appearance, a 6-1 loss to the Rangers at UBS Arena on Sept. 25 — and carried a 14-8-2 career record against the Rangers, including 10-3-1 at the Garden, with a 2.59 goals-against average and a .915 save percentage into Tuesday’s match.
“He has that positive outlook and positive attitude that makes him an unbelievable teammate, an unbelievable goalie,” Palmieri said. “We’re just really happy to be part of him coming back and being in the net tonight.”
Varlamov backed up Sorokin as the Islanders split their first two games, including a 6-0 win over the Devils in Saturday night’s home opener at UBS Arena.
Tuesday night was the next step for Varlamov but the Islanders are going to need 25-30 quality starts from him this season. Their playoff chances may depend on Varlamov playing well enough to keep Sorokin fresh and sharp.
That would be the real victory from Varlamov’s inspirational journey.
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.
