Colorado Avalanche: 5 Amazing Saves from Semyon Varlamov
Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov can be a polarizing player because his play is either hot or cold. Here are some of his hottest plays.
Semyon Varlamov — as a Colorado Avalanche fan, you sometimes love him, sometimes hate him. That’s because he can steal a game or give it away — he’s rarely in between.
Avs fans also have a love-hate relationship with Semyon Varlamov’s groin. Not in a perverted way, it’s just that he’s had groin issues pretty much since he came to the team. He finally had surgery last summer to correct the issue, and, to give his doctors credit, his groin didn’t give out again last season.
Instead, he suffered a knee injury when a Chicago player fell on his leg on March 30. If only Varlamov could stay healthy.
Anyway, when Varlamov is healthy and is on his game, he can make some incredible saves. And he can make a lot of them. On March 24, he made 39 saves against 40 shots against the Vegas Golden Knights. On March 15 and again on March 20, Varlamov faced 45 shots — he made 44 saves both nights.
On November 2, he faced a ridiculous 60 shots by the Carolina Hurricanes. Come on, Colorado Avalanche defense, how about a little Varly love?
Anyway, Semyon Varlamov made a lot of saves last season — a total of 1,467 for a save percentage of .920. Let’s look at some of the most significant saves of the 2017-18 season.
Seabrook Shutdown
On March 30, 2018, the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. They ended up taking the game 5-0. Both Semyon Varlamov and his backup, Jonathan Bernier, were awarded shutouts in that game. Unfortunately, that’s the last game Varlamov played in the season.
One of the last saves Varlamov made in the season came against Chicago’s prized defenseman, Brent Seabrook. Seabrook isn’t a high-scorer, but he’s got some moves. He tried to use them against Varlamov late in the first period.
The score is tied at zero, and the play is in the Avalanche zone. A Chicago Blackhawks player throws the puck toward the net. The puck flies wide, to Varlamov’s left. It bounces off the back boards and up near the front of the net.
Matthew Nieto and Samuel Girard are in front of the net, but they don’t manage to clear it. The puck squirts out, to Varlamov’s left again. A roving Seabrook swoops in and wrists the shot toward Varlamov:
Semyon kicks the puck away with his left blocker to keep the game scoreless. It perhaps wasn’t Varlamov’s most spectacular save but, like I said, it was one of his last of the season.
Varly Stops Vegas Twice
As I noted, the March 24 game against the Vegas Golden Knights was one that saw Varlamov face 40 shots. To be fair, that game included a five-minute overtime. Nonetheless, that’s a lot of saves. Indeed, Varlamov had to make a pair of saves midway through the first period to keep the game scoreless.
The Knights go on the rush with Jonathan Marchessault in possession. Marchessault passes to William Karlsson in the Avalanche zone. Karlsson puts on a burst of speed and heads right for Varlamov. With nothing but the goalie in his sightline, Karlsson makes a backhand shot, but Varlamov gets his body in position to make the save.
Unfortunately, the rebound bounces to his right. Tyson Barrie bats ineffectually at it, and the puck ends up on Tomas Tatar‘s stick. Tatar gets off a quick shot, but Varlamov has slid across the crease. He catches the second shot in his glove:
This game ended up going to the shootout, which the Colorado Avalanche eventually won. Indeed, it’s thanks to Varlamov’s shootout save on Marchessault, followed by a Gabriel Landeskog goal, that the Avalanche won the game:
Stopping the Red Wings
The Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings no longer have their historic rivalry. However, Avs fans will always love it when the team beats the hated Wings.
On March 18, the Avalanche hosted the Wings. I hadn’t been to a Wings game since the Stadium Series, so I was chagrined to see how many Detroit fans were in the audience. Seriously, can people just stay in their home states?
Anyway, it sucks when there are a lot of opponent fans in the audience at the Pepsi Center because when the opponent makes a goal, the cheering is as loud as when an Avalanche player makes a goal. That seriously sucks.
Luckily — thanks in no small part to Semyon Varlamov — the Detroit fans only had one goal to celebrate. Colorado fans, on the other hand, had five. That was a game that saw Varlamov face 38 shots.
Early in the third period, with the Avalanche up 3-1, Detroit goes on the power play. As the man-advantage winds down, Anthony Mantha gets the puck right on Varlamov’s doorstep. He makes two backhand attempts and keeps jabbing at the puck, but Varlamov keeps his pads in position to make the saves:
With under a minute to go, and the Avs still up 3-1, the Red Wings are in the Colorado zone again.
crashes the net and attempts to shove the puck in, but Varlamov kicks it away. The rebound heads to
, who makes a nifty backhand move.
Barrie falls flat on his back, but never mind. Semyon Varlamov makes the save again:
That victory really was sweet.
Varlamov Beats the Wild
You know who I hate more than the Detroit Red Wings? Of course you do. My hate for the Minnesota Wild is near legendary — or infamous anyway. Indeed, victories over the Minnesota Wild feel even better than those over the Detroit Red Wings.
Well, the Colorado Avalanche faced the Wild for the last time of the season on March 13. The game was in Minnesota, and that’s been a tough place for Colorado to win in recent years. In fact, in their previous sojourn at Xcel Energy Center last season, the Avalanche lost 3-2 in the shootout.
Well, things were different in the final match-up of the season. After that tough loss in Minny, Colorado went on to beat the Wild 7-2 then 7-1. That was in Pepsi Center, though.
The Xcel game went well, too. Colorado ended up winning 5-1. This was a game that saw Varlamov make 33 saves — and win first star honors. In Minnesota. Yass.
One of the most hated Minnesota players will always be Nino Niederreider, he of the Ping Heard Round Avs Nation (Game 7 overtime winner.) Well, this game against the Wild wasn’t so important, but it was satisfying.
Midway through the third period, the Minnesota Wild are on the power play. The Avalanche are up 3-1, but a goal at this point, in Minnesota, can definitely turn the tide.
Hey, look who’s being ineffectual in front of the net again — it’s Tyson Barrie. Also Patrik Nemeth. Actually, come to think of it, what is Barrie even doing on the penalty kill?
Anyway, the Wild are passing around the puck. Ryan Suter passes to Mikael Granlund — who’s apparently too fragile to stand up to Cody McLeod. Granlund spins the puck back to Suter, who redirects it to Matt Dumba — who one-times it to Niederreiter.
Oh, that wily Swiss. He gets off a dangerous redirect. However, Varlamov kicks it aside with ease:
That’s right, Nino. No love for you today.
Varlamov’s 57-Save Performance
The Carolina Hurricanes were not a good team this season. They finished #20 in the NHL with a 37-.5-10 record. Their goal differential was -30. They should not have had free rein with the Colorado Avalanche, even early in the season.
Well, the Carolina Hurricanes did not have free rein with the Avalanche in their November 2, game thanks mostly to Semyon Varlamov. The Hurricanes, who were 4-5-2 at the time, fired a barrage of shots at Varlamov. Semyon stopped all but three — that’s a save percentage of .950. Impressive.
It should come as no surprise that Varlamov was first star of the night for this game, too.
Here are the highlights of that impressive game:
His save against Jordan Staal was especially impressive:
Those 57 saves were a career high for Varlamov. Those 57 saves in a regular-season game are also the most saves by an Avalanche goalie since the team moved to Colorado.
5 terrific Avs Videos from 2017-18. dark. Next
Semyon Varlamov is in the final year of his five-year contract. It’s probably the 30-year-old’s final year with the Colorado Avalanche. The team is committed to a youth movement, and they signed 26-year-old goalie Philipp Grubauer this summer.
Varlamov has been a goalie that I’ve shook my fist at sometimes. However, when he’s dialed in, he’s a force to be reckoned with. These five games represent just some of the ways that he’s contributed to the Avs.