"Everything is fine now," Varlamov said. "The last two weeks, I've been travelling with the team. I was on the road trip and had a lot of time to skate with the team. I had a lot of good practices. You know how challenging it is with the team practice when you're playing so many games on the road trip. We had a lot of good practices with the guys and the goalie coaches. I feel like I'm 100% and could play this week."
The Islanders returned from the six-game leg of their lengthy road trip early on Monday morning with a 3-2-1 record, ending it in a dominant fashion with back-to-back shutout victories over Arizona (3-0) and Vegas (2-0). Ilya Sorokin, who was part of the Islanders' goalie tandem with Varlamov last season, started in all six games and earned the NHL's Third Star of the Week honors for his 3-0-1 record and back-to-back shutouts.
For Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz, it's a welcomed decision having to choose between Sorokin and Varlamov for who to start in net for Saturday's game against Nashville. With a five-day break in the Islanders' schedule, Trotz is carefully weighing the decision and noted that he's relying on past experiences when choosing Saturday's starter.
"It's just getting the right balance," Trotz said. "The starting point for [Varlamov], no matter when you put him in, will be his starting point. He's not going to be any more rusty than he would be now. He could go in Nashville, he could go in Montreal, or he could go in later next week. We'll make a decision on where he is with our goaltending coaches and myself tomorrow and we'll let that goaltender know. We'll play in Nashville and then we'll decide from there."
