The Islanders were one bad game from a goaltender away from a full-on crisis that might have even overshadowed the end of their season.
But even as Ilya Sorokin’s struggles have relegated him to backup duties for the rest of the postseason, as long as it may go, Semyon Varlamov has not wavered one bit.
Varlamov put together another strong and winning performance Saturday, stopping 42 of 44 shots on his birthday to help save the season in a 3-2 double-overtime victory over the Hurricanes to force Game 5 of the series Tuesday night.
“He got himself a pretty nice birthday gift playing the way he played,” coach Patrick Roy said. “What I love about Varly right now, everything seems easy. He’s not over-moving. He’s square, he’s big in the net, he’s tough. To beat him, you need a good shot, you need a good play.”
The only two times the Hurricanes beat Varlamov on Saturday came on power-play chances that were classified as high-danger by Natural Stat Trick. At even strength, despite 40 shots and seven high-danger chances, they couldn’t solve a netminder who was steady all afternoon, leaving no rebounds out for the picking.
Even late in the first overtime period when the Hurricanes produced a pair of grade-A chances with Andrei Svechnikov deflecting a shot and Dmitry Orlov getting another in the ensuing scramble, Varlamov was nonplussed.
“They’ve been playing the same way,” he said. “Aggressive team, very offensive team, playing fast. They play a lot on the power play. But gotta give our team a lot of credit today, battling all game and never giving up.”
His team would like to give the credit right back to Varlamov, who has been the Islanders’ best player by some distance through four playoff games.
“So steady,” Anders Lee said. “He makes things look effortless at times. He’s just so square and on top of it.”
“He’s a savvy, savvy veteran that’s played a lot of games in this league,” Noah Dobson said. “Playoff games. You can just see the calm demeanor that he has. Doesn’t matter the situation, he’s the same Varly. It gives us a lot of composure and calmness back there, just knowing how calm and composed he is.”
There is no question — none — about who will have the net for Game 5 or beyond. The Islanders need to sort through their situation with Sorokin over the summer, but do-or-die matches in the playoffs are no time for that.
This is Varlamov’s net. And the only people for whom that is an issue are the Carolina Hurricanes.
“We’re still in it, which is very exciting,” Varlamov said. “Unbelievable game. Just happy.”