Hockey wonks touted Ilya Sorokin as the Islanders goaltender that can be a difference-maker in the Islanders’ chances of winning the Stanley Cup this season. He is viewed as a favorite to win the Calder Trophy, which is the Rookie of the Year. Islanders fans expressed excitement about him heading to this season.
Apparently, Semyon Varlamov forgot about the memo.
After starting two games into the season with a 120-minute shutout streak (longest shutout streak from the start of the season by any goaltender in Islanders history), Varlamov is playing like he has no interest in handing his starting role to Sorokin soon, if not ever. The Islanders needed every of his 27 saves to earn a grind-it-out 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins in their home opener Monday night.
Jean-Gabriel Pageau gets all the glory for scoring the game-winner in the third period after he batted the puck in the net on Adam Pelech’s shot, but the Islanders don’t win this game without Varlamov’s play for the first two periods of the contest. The media that covered the game noticed it, and that’s why they rewarded Varlamov as the No. 1 start of the game.
Varlamov knows the situation. The Islanders did not promote Sorokin to be an understudy the entire season. The plan is to eventually play the kid. After all, the Islanders signed Monday’s hero to be a mentor to the goalie of the future last season.
This does not mean Varlamov would accept his role of giving way to the Islanders future goalie. He feels like he gives the Islanders the best chance of winning the Stanley Cup. He played well enough in the postseason to deserve a shot to stay on as a starter. He handled himself like a professional after the Islanders started Thomas Greiss for Game 7 against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Eastern Conference semifinals and Game 1 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final, and it served him well that he started the rest of the Eastern Conference Final against the Lightning. He actually had a good series against the Stanley Cup champions.
Islanders head coach Barry Trotz won’t say it publicly, but he knows that the Islanders best shot to win the Cup is Varlamov starting than an unproven goaltender who needs time to be acclimated in the NHL.
Varlamov’s postseason woes have been well-documented. He fell apart altogether in Game 7 of the 2014 Western Conference quarterfinals against the Minnesota Wild by blowing four leads, costing the Avalanche a chance to advance to the semifinals. He also was the goaltender that blew a 3-1 series lead for the Washington Capitals against the Montreal Canadiens in the 2010 Eastern Conference quarterfinals.
There will always be questions about his postseason ability unless he finally hoists the Stanley Cup. He quieted the critics by playing well last year in the postseason, but he knows they will pounce on him when he struggles in the postseason. It goes with the territory of being an NHL goaltender.
As much as he enjoys being part of Sorokin’s development, he also wants to change everyone’s perception of him as a goaltender who can’t win the big game. It’s what drives him to keep playing.
Maybe this is the year for Varlamov. He gets great support from his defense, and Islanders goaltending coach Mitch Korn gets results out of his goaltenders all the time as we saw with Robin Lehner, Thomas Greiss and Varlamov.
This past postseason can only help, not hurt. He picked up where he left off. His confidence and coaching played a role in the success he is having right now. Maybe he learned about himself this past postseason by not stewing and being ready to go after not getting the Game 7 start against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Goaltenders can have such a psyche. It can be confident or fragile. It’s like momentum. With Varlamov right now, he is playing with so much confidence that was never seen before. This shows right there why coaching matters. Korn and Trotz made such a big difference in Varlamov.
Maybe Sorokin turns out to be a Hall of Fame goaltender one day. Maybe he leads the Islanders to a Stanley Cup at UBS Arena one day.
But Varlamov gives the Islanders a better chance to hoist the Stanley Cup this season in what is the last year of Nassau Coliseum.
He sent that message with his two shutouts to start the season.
