The Case for Semyon Varlamov
Last season the Washington Capitals #1 goaltending job belonged to Jose Theodore. Jose registered very respectable numbers, going 32-17-5 with 2 shutouts, a 2.87 GAA and .900 save percentage. When Theodore’s backup Brent Johnson suffered a hip injury in February, 2009, Semyon Varlamov was brought up from the Hershey Bears of the AHL to fill Johnson’s spot. Varlamov, a 1st-round draft pick of the Capitals in 2006, played well when called upon, going 4-0-1 with a 2.37 GAA and .918 save percentage.
Theodore started the first game of the playoffs against the New York Rangers, giving up 4 goals and losing 4-3. In an attempt to shake his team up, coach Bruce Boudreau elected to start Varlamov in game two. Despite playing well and only allowing one goal on 24 shots, Washington lost game two, 1-0. Boudreau felt that Varlamov had played well enough to earn the nod in game three, and he responded with a 33-save shutout in a 4-0 win. Boudreau stuck with his rookie netminder through the rest of the series, and the Capitals won it in seven games.
Washington ended up losing in the next round in seven games to the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins, but the general feeling was that Varlamov had wrestled the starting goaltending job away from Theodore.
So far this season, Boudreau has platooned his goalies. Both have played well but neither has stood out head and shoulders above the other. But mark down last night’s game between the Caps and the New York Islanders as the date when Varlamov again may have claimed the #1 job. Staked to an early 1-0 lead when Alex Semin scored just 8 seconds into the game, Washington starter Theodore proceeded to give up 3 goals on the 5 Islander shots he faced over the next 7 minutes. Boudreau threw out the hook and replaced Jose with Varlamov. Entering a game down 3-1, Semyon was solid the rest of the way and actually had a 4-3 lead late in the game. But as has been the case in recent losses lately, the Capitals took all 3 penalties handed out in the third period, the last being a Milan Jurcina boarding call for a hit on NY forward Josh Bailey with 2:46 left in regulation. Also being the case in those losses Washington allowed a late tying power play goal, this one with just over 2 minutes left.
After a scoreless overtime period, the Islanders grabbed a quick 1-0 lead in the shootout as Jeff Tambellini potted a wrister on their first shot. Washington’s next shooter, Alex Semin scored on their next shot to knot the score at 1-1, and Varlamov would hold off the next 10 NY shooters. When captain Chris Clark whipped a wrister by Isles goalie Dwayne Roloson in the 11th round, it was up to Varlamov to stop Mark Streit for the win. And stop him he did, as the Capitals won their third straight game. Other than Tambellini’s goal, the only other Islander shooter to get close was when Frans Nielsen deked Varlamov to the ice and promptly rang a backhander off the crossbar. Varlamov stayed right with all of the other Isles shooters and really gave them nothing to shoot at.
As was the case in the 2008-09 playoffs, the entire team looks more confident and seems to play a more cohesive game when Varlamov is between the pipes for the Capitals. Add in the fact that Varlamov’s cap hit of $850,000 is much less than Theodore’s $4.5 million. But will owner Ted Leonsis be happy seeing a backup goaltender sitting on the bench making $4.5 million? That huge salary is near-impossible to move via trade, especially with so many teams up against their respective cap limits. Concerning teams that have been rumored to be looking to upgrade their goaltending, would the Detroit Red Wings be in the market for Theodore?
A goaltender competition is a good thing to have, especially when your team just took over the top spot in the Eastern Conference as of November 11, 2009. Also when there aren’t rogue player-agents stirring the pot, as is the case in Montreal. Seeing which goalie will be the #1 as the season progresses will be an interesting watch in Washington this year.
