OTTAWA — Semyon Varlamov did everything in his power Thursday night to earn his first win after two partial knee replacements.
The Islanders, though, could only get a point to show for their goaltender’s efforts. They never made Linus Ullmark work all that hard in the opposite net, and Shane Pinto’s shootout goal was the difference in a 2-1 loss to the Senators.
The shame of it is that Varlamov — after two would-be Senators goals in the first period were called back for not crossing the line and for offside — was the Islanders’ best player, turning aside 19 shots and looking, in coach Pete DeBoer’s words, “like the old Varly.”
“I’ve been there, it’s not the first time [in that kind of game],” Varlamov said. “It hasn’t been for a while. There’s a lot of, I wouldn’t say new things, but just different moments for me, going to OT and experiencing the shootout. I haven’t been in that position for a while.”
In his second start of the season, Varlamov looked markedly better than his first, gaining more command of his crease as the night went on and making a terrific reaction save on Stephen Halliday in the second period.
This, though, was one of those nights that even when the Islanders were doing things right, pucks seemed to find a way of bouncing off their sticks.
They hung on for life through chunks of a second period in which they took three penalties and the game got dangerously open, with Ridly Greig’s finish from Warren Foegele — left completely unmarked to receive Artem Zub’s stretch pass at the Islanders blue line — the only damage.
Again, that was thanks in no small part to Varlamov, who made sure the Islanders penalty kill was flawless despite struggling to disrupt Ottawa’s puck movement.
Given the gift of a 1-1 score entering the last 20 minutes, the Islanders had every chance to walk out of Canadian Tire Centre with at least a point.
DeBoer made a series of changes to his forward lines to try to ensure it. Cal Ritchie and Anthony Duclair, both struggling, were dropped to the fourth line while Simon Holmstrom was moved up to the third and Emil Heineman to the second, where Brayden Schenn shifted to center.
That did have the effect of reinforcing the Islanders’ structure, and the third was a good display of physical, tight-checking hockey by both teams.
“We weren’t trying to be too cute. We were getting back to our game,” Bo Horvat told The Post. “Forechecking hard and started turning pucks over.”
It was enough to get the Islanders a point, but they couldn’t end it there — even after getting a four-on-three power play that immediately followed a successful penalty kill.
“It sucks that my stick broke there,” Horvat said. “They kinda had three-on-three at the end, me going back to get my stick. It happens.”
The Islanders went oh-fer in the ensuing shootout and were left to rue their missed opportunities.
Matias Maccelli was a bright spot along with Varlamov, opening the scoring with 12 seconds left in the first by picking Pinto’s pocket at the blue line and burying it. Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s line — with varying combinations of wingers — was the only one that consistently managed to break the puck out against Ottawa’s forecheck.
It was mainly thanks to instant replay — and a good challenge by DeBoer on Halliday’s would-be goal — that Ottawa didn’t grab an early lead. Both overturned goals beat Varlamov short side, a potentially worrisome trend given it’s not the first time his reaction time has looked susceptible since returning.
By the end of the night, Varlamov had quelled any worries about his play.
“That has to be the hardest position to come back from an extended absence because so much of it is timing and seeing the puck compared to a forward or a defenseman,” DeBoer said. “And you can’t replicate game action in practice either for that.
“We saw game one, he got through [against] the Rangers. I thought he was pretty good. Tonight, he looked like the old Varly. It’s great to see, and it’s great for us because we’re gonna need him.”
