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Evaluating Islanders' goaltending at the All-Star break

January 28, 2020, 4:31 PM ET [440 Comments]
Ben Shelley
New York Islanders Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The New York Islanders have had excellent goaltending for the last two seasons and it’s no secret around the league. Completing the All-Star Break evaluations, this article will look at the performance of both Thomas Greiss and Semyon Varlamov this season.


THOMAS GREISS- meeting expectations

“Meeting expectations” shouldn’t be an insult to Greiss at this point. To see what he was able to pull off last season was a bit surprising. The same can’t be said now though, as Greiss has solidified himself as a top-tier goaltender and I wouldn’t be shocked to see someone take a chance on him as a starter next season on a short-term deal, even considering his age.

I had said before the season started that Greiss would make a great partner for Varlamov because he can play a high number of games and be effective in the process. Greiss has done just that and his .925 save percentage has been a factor in New York’s success once again this season.


SEMYON VARLAMOV- surpassing expectations

There were questions when Semyon Varlamov signed with New York. He’s horribly inconsistent from year to year and we really didn’t know what to expect when he arrived. Thankfully, he’s been very good and despite a few rough games leading into the break, the recency bias shouldn’t cloud the fact that he’s having a strong year overall.

He’s gotten the majority of starts this season and is likely going to help usher Ilya Sorokin into New York next year. He had big shoes to fill with the departure of Robin Lehner and while he maybe hasn’t been the Vezina-candidate caliber of goaltender that Lehner was last year for the Islanders, considering we had no idea how he’d perform, this has all turned out pretty well so far.



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OTHER ISLANDERS ARTICLES FROM JANUARY

Evaluating all Islanders' defensemen at the All-Star break

Evaluating all Islanders' forwards at the All-Star break

A stretch of games to forget

Jordan Eberle is due to break out of his cold streak

What Adam Pelech's injury means for the Islanders

SHORT READ: Wahlstrom/Pivonka and Team USA eliminated from World Juniors
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