The Islanders avoided a full-blown crisis that could overshadow even the end of the season with one bad game for their goaltender.
But even as Ilya Sorokin’s struggles relegated him to reserve duty for the rest of the postseason, Semyon Varlamov didn’t faze one bit as long as it lasted.
Varlamov had another strong, winning performance on Saturday, stopping 42 of 44 shots on his birthday to help save the season and a 3-2 overtime win over the Hurricanes on Tuesday night. , taking it to Game 5 of the series.
“He got a really nice birthday present by playing the way he did,” coach Patrick Roy said. “What I like about Varley right now is that everything seems easy. He doesn’t move too much. He’s square, he’s big on the net, he’s tough. It’s a good shot and a good shot to beat him. I need to play.”
The only two times the Hurricanes beat Varlamov on Saturday were on power-play opportunities classified as high-danger by Natural Stat Trick. At even strength, despite 40 shots and seven dangerous chances, they couldn’t solve the netminder, who had been steady all afternoon, leaving no rebounds for picks.
Even as the Hurricanes created two Class A chances late in the first overtime, with a shot by Andrei Svechnikov and another by Dmitry Orlov in the ensuing scramble, Varlamov faltered.
“They’ve been playing the same way,” he said. “An aggressive team, a very aggressive team, playing fast. They play well on the power play. But today I give a lot of credit to our team for fighting every game and never giving up. You have to give.”
His team will soon want to give credit back to Varlamov, who has been somewhat removed from being the Islanders’ best player through four playoff games.
“It’s very stable,” Anders Lee said. “He makes things look easy sometimes. He’s really straight forward and on top of it.”
“He’s a seasoned veteran who’s played a lot of games in this league,” Noah Dobson said. “Playoff games. You can see his calm demeanor. It doesn’t matter the situation, he’s the same Varley. Just knowing how calm and collected he is, it gives us a lot of calm and composure. Masu.”
There is no question as to who will be in net from Game 5 onwards. The Islanders need to sort out the situation with Sorokin over the summer, but a do-or-die game in the playoffs is not the time.
This is Varlamov’s net. And that only matters to the Carolina Hurricanes.
“We’re still at that stage. It’s very exciting,” Varlamov said. “Incredible game. Just happy.”
