Islanders goalie Semyon Varlamov deals with contact from Tampa Bay's Ondrej Palat as he's getting checked by Andy Greene during the first period of the Islanders' 5-3 win in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday in Edmonton, Alberta. Credit: AP/JASON FRANSON
Semyon Varlamov played really, really well for the Islanders in Game 2 on Wednesday. But the way that one ended, it was clear that for the 32-year-old Russian, playing really, really well just wasn’t quite good enough.
So with the Islanders in desperate need of a win in Game 3 on Friday to claw their way back into this Eastern Conference final series against the Tampa Bay Lightning, they needed Varlamov to be better than he was Wednesday.