Even before the NHL season began, Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau made clear that past results were no guarantee of future performance for rookie goalie Semyon Varlamov.
The 21-year-old Russian was brilliant at times last spring as Washington won its first Stanley Cup playoff series since 1998. He posted two shutouts against the New York Rangers and was excellent in the conference semifinals against Pittsburgh before fading in a Game 7 loss.
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But Boudreau named veteran Jose Theodore the starting goalie heading into training camp. If Varlamov expected to be the future of the position for the Caps, then he was going to have to earn it all over again.
Almost two months into the season, that’s beginning to happen. Varlamov has started six of the last eight games. He has not lost in regulation during that stretch and his numbers are fantastic: a 1.48 goals-against average and a .949 save percentage. Theodore originally missed two games to attend to a personal matter. And while he is back with the team now, he hasn’t played since a Nov. 14 loss at New Jersey. And as Theodore’s performance has trailed off in recent weeks after a strong start to the season, Varlamov sees a chance to secure the No. 1 job.
“Nothing has really changed for me,” Varlamov said through an interpreter after his latest effort — a 2-0 shutout of Buffalo on Wednesday night. “I’m working on mistakes, trying to minimize the mistakes and get rid of them. I’ve also gotten over being nervous.”
By doing so he’s put himself in the running for the Calder Trophy as NHL rookie of the year — last won by a Caps rookie in 2006 when Alex Ovechkin took home the prize. It’s still early. But overall, Varlamov is 9-1-2 with a 2.35 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage that ranks seventh-best in the league. Wednesday’s shutout was his first during the regular season. Varlamov started five games last year before his unexpected ascension during the playoffs when he was in goal for 13 of Washington’s 14 games.
“We have to be honest,” Boudreau said prior to Varlamov’s shutout on Wednesday night. “Varly’s playing pretty good right now. He’s got the net and he’s saying ‘I want the net.'”
