DENVER — Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov left Tuesday night's 5-4 loss to the Avalanche with an apparent injury just 14 minutes, 52 seconds into the game, with Ilya Sorokin coming on in relief.
Varlamov previously missed the Dec. 29 game against Washington with an undisclosed injury, with the Islanders' Ken Appleby dressing as Varlamov's backup.
The Isles appeared to have things under control when Varlamov returned to the bench to back up Sorokin on Sunday against Pittsburgh, but that clearly wasn't the case.
When asked if this was the same injury, head coach Lane Lambert said: I don't know either. ”
The head coach did not provide an update on Varlamov's status after the loss.
If Varlamov is out for an extended period of time, Sorokin will likely be forced to sit out every game because the organization doesn't have a third goaltender who is considered NHL-worthy.
Sorokin has had an increased workload in each of the past two seasons due to Varlamov's injury, and has been a back-to-back starter in both seasons.
The Islanders' next back-to-back games are in just under two weeks at Minnesota and Winnipeg.
Tuesday was Varlamov's 13th start of the season, and by that night he had a .918 save percentage.
