New York Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov was named the NHL’s third star of the week on Monday after picking up three consecutive wins to keep his team afloat during Ilya Sorokin’s injury absence.
The 33-year-old netminder posted a 3-0-0 record with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .952 save percentage (99 saves on 104 shots) last week.
He made 42 on 45 stops in a 4-3 Islanders win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was the second-most saves he made in a game this season.
Just two nights later, he completed the home-and-home sweep of the Blue Jackets at UBS Arena by making 30 saves in a 5-2 win.
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He saved his best effort for the bright lights of Broadway the following night, stopping all 27 shots he faced at Madison Square Garden to shut out the Rangers in a 3-0 win on Friday. It was the fourth straight time he shut the Blueshirts out at MSG, becoming the second goaltender in NHL history and first in 96 years to post that many successive road shutouts against a single team.
It was the first time he recorded back-to-back wins on consecutive nights since Feb. 11-12, 2016.
After missing training camp and taking longer than anticipated to warm back up to the NHL game — prompting the Islanders to roll with Sorokin as the No. 1 goalie — Varlamov has heated up as of late, posting a 6-1-0 record in his last seven starts.
“You can see his confidence growing each and every game,” Islanders veteran forward Casey Cizikas said on Friday. “It hasn’t been just these last two games. It’s been a while now. So, you know, the way he’s playing, it gives us a boost going into every single game.”
Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid picked up first-star honors this week while Florida Panthers talisman Aleksander Barkov slotted in second.
