Semyon Varlamov

Semyon Aleksandrovich Varlamov (Семён Александрович Варламов; born 27 April 1988) is a Russian professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for the New York Islanders of the National Hockey League (NHL).

He won the next two games 5–3 and 2–1, respectively, to help the Washington Capitals advance to the second round of the playoffs for the first time since 1998.

In Game 1 of the second round against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Varlamov made a spectacular save on Sidney Crosby that NHL pundits dubbed "the save of the playoffs."

In Game 7 of that series, after allowing four early goals, he was pulled in favor of deposed starter José Théodore in which the Capitals were ultimately eliminated 6–2 by the eventual Stanley Cup champions.

The next season, Théodore began the season as the starter, with Varlamov able to challenge for the spot.

After a hot start, just as it seemed he would supplant Theodore, Varlamov was injured.

During the 2004–05 season, Varlamov made his debut on Lokomotiv's junior farm club, Lokomotiv-2, playing as backup to Ivan Kasutin in the 1st League (Russia 3).

During the summer of 2005, Kasutin was loaned to Penza, effectively making Varlamov the starting goalie for the 2005–06 season.

He first played professionally with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the then Russian Superleague (RSL) after he was drafted in the first round, 23rd overall, by the Washington Capitals in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

After having been drafted by the Washington Capitals 23rd overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Varlamov was signed by the Capitals to a three-year, entry-level contract on 11 July 2007.

In 2008, he helped lead Lokomotiv Yaroslavl to the Russian Super League finals.

He came to North America for the 2008–09 season and played, for the most part, with the Capitals' minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL).

Varlamov was called up, however, on several occasions during the season and played his first NHL game on 13 December 2008, against the Montreal Canadiens.

Making 32 saves, he won his debut 2–1 and was named the first star of the game.

His home debut in Washington came five days later on 18 December against the St. Louis Blues, where he made 29 saves on 31 shots and was named the second star of the game in a 4–2 Capitals win.

After regular Capitals backup Brent Johnson was sidelined with a hip injury in February 2009, Varlamov assumed the backup position behind José Théodore.

He went 4–0–1 with a 2.37 goals against average (GAA) and .918 save percentage in six games with the Capitals, while also going 19–7–1 in 27 games with the Bears in the AHL.

During the first round of the 2009 playoffs against the New York Rangers, Varlamov replaced José Théodore after he allowed four goals to lose Game 1.

He subsequently made his NHL playoff debut on 18 April 2009, losing the second game of the series 1–0.

He went on to win Game 3 4–0 on 20 April, recording his first career NHL shutout.

On 24 April, Game 5 of the series, Varlamov achieved his second shutout by the same score, 4–0.

Varlamov was sent down to the Hershey Bears of the AHL by the Capitals on 29 December 2009, to begin his rehabilitation starts.

Varlamov was later recalled from the Bears on 1 March 2010.

Théodore remained the starter, but just as it was the year before, Varlamov made most of the playoff starts.

Théodore was not retained after the season, seemingly making Varlamov the official starter.

However, he eventually lost out to rookie Michal Neuvirth, and Neuvirth was instead Théodore's successor.

On 9 July 2010, it was announced that Varlamov changed his jersey number from the recognizable number 40 to number 1.

On 1 July 2011, Varlamov was traded to the Colorado Avalanche for a first-round draft pick in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round pick in either 2012 or 2013.

As a restricted free agent at the time of his trade, he was then signed to a three-year, $8.5 million contract with the Avalanche the following day, marking his projection as the Avalanche's starting goaltender.

The start of the 2011–12 season proved successful for Varlamov and the Avalanche, but a disastrous November put the club back to the bottom of the Northwest Division.

Varlamov was often benched in favor of veteran backup Jean-Sébastien Giguère, originally brought in by the Avalanche to mentor the young Russian.

With Giguère's exemplary effort in net, Colorado climbed back within the race for bottom playoff spots in the Western Conference.

On 15 February 2012, Giguère pulled his groin in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks.

Varlamov replaced Giguère in a losing effort.

He soon reaffirmed his position as starter, and kept his club in playoff contention.

On 5 April 2012, the 81st game of the season, in a must-win situation for the Avalanche's playoff hopes, Varlamov made his career-high eighth consecutive start and let up four goals in a 5–2 loss against the last-placed Columbus Blue Jackets at Pepsi Center.

He would later spend eight NHL seasons with the Colorado Avalanche before signing with the Islanders in the summer of 2019.

Varlamov grew up in Kuybyshev, developing his skills under the VVS hockey program.

Before learning to skate properly, he started playing in net at the age of eight, preferring the goalie stick to the inferior bandy sticks that mite-level players were using at the time.

The young goalie moved to Yaroslavl in his early teens and quickly established himself as the club's dominant goalie.