Varlamov Comes Up Clutch in OT Win

Mathew Barzal scored the 2-1 overtime winner for the Islanders in Game 3 of their First Round series against the Washington Capitals, but it was the tremendous effort from Semyon Varlamov that preceded Barzal's game-winner that was the pinnacle of the momentous win.

Twenty-four seconds before Barzal snuck behind the Capitals defense and secured the Isles' victory with a backhanded shot to the far post, Varlamov stoned a similar sequence from Washington's Jakub Vrana.

As Vrana jetted up the ice for a breakaway, Varlamov stopped not just one, but both attempts made by the Capitals winger to keep his team in the fight. The 11-year NHL veteran and former Capital, denied Vrana's initial shot with his right pad and immediately refused the rebound attempt with his left pad all while the netminder maintained his stance for the entirety of the sequence. The Isles goalie finished the game with 22 saves.

Video: WSH@NYI, Gm3: Varlamov makes a pair of saves on Vrana

"Your goalie is your eraser," Head Coach Barry Trotz said. "Sometimes as a coach or a team, your goaltender can erase all of your mistakes. We made a couple of mistakes there and Varly erased it. Getting the [win] for him is a good process. You want to reward your goalie for bailing you out and you can bail him out with a win. [Without him], you wouldn't get that opportunity."

While the Islanders have been dominant in their series against the Caps so far and held them to fewer than-30 shots in each of the three games, the occasional fault in their detailed play has been concealed by the dependable endeavors from Varlamov. The 32-year-old Samara Russia native, leads goaltenders in the postseason with his 6-1 record and has accumulated a .932 SV% and a 1.71 GAA. In seven playoff games, Varlamov has only allowed more than two goals once.

"Look, it's huge, you've got a goaltender like Varly back there, he's quick, he's seeing the puck right now, kicking out rebounds," Anders Lee said of Varlamov. "It puts a lot of confidence in us in front of him. A lot of credit goes out to him and our defensive core for blocking shots, boxing guys out and not giving them those second chances; those rebounds, the extra pucks, clearing those out of the way. When things break down in front of him, Varly has stood really tall."

Of the Isles and Caps series, Sunday afternoon's match was the closest, and lowest-scoring battle between the two clubs. While the Islanders got on the board first with 5:10 left in the first period as Lee scored his third goal in as many games, the Caps were desperate to pick up their first win of the series.

The Isles held Washington to just 23 shots and played a tight game five-on-five, but the Caps scored their equalizer from Evgeny Kuznetsov on the power play at 5:50 of the second period.

Conversely, the Isles power play went 0-for-5 against the Caps' stingy penalty kill, - ranked first among the teams that are actively still playing - but Varlamov was superb in making the timely and decisive saves to keep his team in the fight.

During the Isles fourth power play of the outing, midway through the second period, Tom Wilson anticipated the Isles' play as they circled the puck around the Caps' zone. As Wilson sprung for the shorthanded breakaway, he aimed his shot wide, but Varlamov still denied the subsequent rebound off of the lively boards.

"Every player I play on a breakaway, [I play] differently," Varlamov said of facing a player on a breakaway. "Some players prefer to shoot. Some players prefer to make a move. As a goalie, you just have to stay patient. Then, I see what the player is going to do. I just try to stay patient."

Despite seeing limited action from the Caps' offense - as a result of the Isles diligent defensive play - Varlamov has been lights out when the occasional slip up occurs. up. The moments when a scrum inevitably ensues around the netfront from all of the scrambling traffic or when a loose puck pops out, Varlamov and the Isles defense have a mutual confidence in one another.

"Sometimes it's very difficult to stay focused because you don't face that many shots," Varlamov said. "When you start a game, you want to make a couple of good saves. You always feel better after that, but sometimes you have to wait like 10 minutes to make a save. I'll take it. We played very good defensively. I'd prefer to see that from the guys instead of you're up 20 shots in the first period."

With only one more win needed to advance to the Second Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Isles are confident in their all-around play and commitment to playing Islander hockey to this point. While they've already directed their focus to Game 4 and what will be needed to close out the series, they try to build off each individual success that's helped shape them to this point. With a foundation as sturdy as Varlamov's play has been, they're eager to continue moving forward.

"You see it all the time, you get that timely save like [he did] on Vrana - he made two timely saves on Vrana - and then we come back and score in half a minute or so," Trotz said. "That's hockey sometimes. We know we've got another level in our game which is really good to know."