Just a little housekeeping as the Caps get a day off after their 3-0 loss at Buffalo on Wednesday. Goalie Semyon Varlamov has, in fact, been placed on injured reserve. He tweaked his groin on Monday night during a 3-0 shutout of Tampa Bay. The rookie will miss both of this weekend’s games against Carolina and Toronto. He is eligible to return at the start of next week’s three-game road trip when the Caps travel to Colorado.
Varlamov is 12-1 with a 2.21 goals-against average (eighth best in NHL) and a .924 save percentage (seventh). Those are sparkling numbers and have him among the Calder Trophy favorites now for rookie of the year along with Islanders forward Jon Tavares and Buffalo defenseman Tyler Myers – who did a nice job on Alex Ovechkin on Wednesday. About the only thing hurting Varlamov right now is he’s only started 16 of Washington’s 31 games.
