Andrew Gross: If Islanders want to be a playoff team, backup goalie Semyon Varlamov will have to perform
Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov tends the ned during a preseason game against the Rangers at UBS Arena on Sept. 25. Credit: Errol Anderson
It’s not correct to say that just playing was the victory for Semyon Varlamov because he and the Islanders are always desperate for two points when they face the Rangers.
But, really, there’s no way to accurately relate the enormity of Varlamov’s accomplishment stepping onto the Madison Square Garden ice on Tuesday night as the Islanders’ starting goalie. It had been 676 days and two partial knee replacement surgeries since he did that last.
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.
But 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.
Varlamov spoke about how special, how emotional his first start would be. Otherwise, he was the same old, even-keel Varlamov that he’s been since joining the Islanders in 2019.
Tuesday marked Varlamov’s first NHL regular-season start since Nov. 29, 2024 and if he was feeling the emotions of his feat, so, too, was the rest of the team.
“The culmination of a long journey,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “When you talk to the group, it hasn’t gone unnoticed how much work he’s put in behind the scenes. They saw him in the gym every day. They saw him working to get back every day last year.”
“It’s amazing, it’s a lot of emotion for him,” Jean-Gabriel Pageau said. “He’s been through so much. 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 and it shows the amount of determination that he has and it was contagious in the locker room just to see him come into the rink with a smile on his face getting better every day. We’re so happy for him.”
Anders Lee is too, from afar. The former Islanders captain, who joined Utah as a free agent this season, was in town with the Mammoth playing the Rangers on Sunday night and the Devils on Tuesday night. He watched Varlamov go through the arduous rehab process.
“It’s unreal, I’m so proud of him,” Lee, who had his 2020-21 season ended by an ACL injury, told Newsday. “He’s someone that a lot of guys can look up to and learn from, just the way he carried himself through it and the belief you have to have in yourself. I’m so thrilled for him. It’s an incredible story and he deserves all the credit he can get.”
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.
“I’m not just pushing myself to come back and play one game,” Varlamov told Newsday on April 15 after making 18 saves in Bridgeport’s 5-2 win in Hartford, Connecticut. “My goal is to come back and play in the NHL. That’s why I took time and did rehab the right way.
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.
“I was looking forward to that,” Varlamov said after Monday’s practice at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow of dressing for an NHL game. “Getting a game as a backup and feeling the atmosphere. It was really good for me. Emotional stuff. It’s been a while. So I was very excited about being part of the team.”
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.
