The Islanders are sending Semyon Varlamov back into the net Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, and the move ends a 676-day rehab wait that has stretched since his last start on Nov. 29, 2024. The veteran goalie is set to open against the Rangers, with Igor Shesterkin waiting at the other end.
That is the kind of matchup that can make a return feel larger than a lineup note. The Islanders enter at 1-1-0, coming off a 6-0 win over the New Jersey Devils on Saturday in which Victor Eklund scored his first NHL goal on his 20th birthday and added an assist. The Rangers are 3-1-0, have won three straight after a 4-2 victory over the Utah Mammoth on Sunday, and have not lost at home this season.
Varlamov also brings a record that matters in this building. He is 5-1-0 in six starts at Madison Square Garden with the Islanders, with a.950 save percentage, a 1.55 goals-against average and four shutouts. For a team that swept the season series against the Rangers last season and outscored them 14-3 across four matchups, that kind of history gives the Islanders a steady hand in a place where the game can tilt fast.
The friction is obvious. The Islanders arrive with momentum from a shutout win, but the Rangers have the better record, the home-ice edge and a starter in Shesterkin who is 2-1-0 this season with a.934 save percentage and a 1.67 goals-against average. He also added a strange bit of franchise history on Oct. 1, scoring the first goalie goal in Rangers history, which only sharpened the sense that this group is carrying confidence into the building. That makes Varlamov’s return less about ceremony than timing.
What happens next is simple enough to say and hard enough to play: the Islanders need their returning goalie to look like himself in a rivalry game that already has the feel of an early marker. If Varlamov settles in the way he has at Madison Square Garden, the Islanders can leave with more than a comeback story. If not, the Rangers have already shown they are ready to make home ice count.
