Start with the inalienable fact that boss Lou Lamoriello again made like "Mr. Wise Man" when the Islanders resigned that Grand Man Of The Crease -- the one and only -- Semyon Varlamov as Ilya Sorokin's relief pitcher.
The Blue Jackets were not really shredded, 2-0, last night in Columbus.
Dry-cleaned was more like it!
No matter how you shake it, the big goose egg at Nationwide Arena is.....
Is what?
Start with the inalienable fact that boss Lou Lamoriello again made like "Mr. Wise Man" when he re-signed that Grand Man Of The Crease -- the one and only -- Semyon Varlamov as Ilya Sorokin's relief pitcher.
While making 35 often superior saves, Varly now has a lifetime total of 39 NHL zero jobs lifetime and 14 as an Islander. It ties him with Tommy Salo as the fifth-best in franchise history.
"Varly was phenomenal," said captain Anders Lee. "He played a gritty road game for us."
The goalkeeper for Orange and White chose to volleyball the compliment right back to his captain and crew. "It was amazing to see how all the guys came back and played so well in front of me," ad-libbed the lippy netminder.
Coach Lane Lambert was not surprised, nor was Lamoriello, who was nudged by some fans to instead replace Varly with a young whippersnapper.
"Varly has been sharp since training camp," said Lambert. "He's a very, very good goalie. We have a ton of confidence when he's in the net."
Actually, the whole magnificent Magilla couldn't have been possible without Kyle Palmieri's first-period goal at 15:45, a rebound placed behind BJ stopper Spencer Martin.
From there, it was "Typical Playoff Hockey" with Varly and Marty exchanging super saves until we arrived at that great Vaudeville act -- Martin vs. Martin, roughly translated to Matt Martin against Spencer Martin, and our guy won.
Casey Cizikas snared a Spencer turnover at 16:39 of the final period, and his shot, followed up by Martin's rebound wack, really wrapped it up the way the Nassaumen were skating and stickhandling.
"The Islanders," said MSG Networks analyst Butch Goring, "did a better job with their sticks, getting in the way of Columbus' passes. And I liked the way they took a good second period right to the finish."
D-man Sebastian Aho was impressed with the All-Pals-Together teamwork. "We filled in for each other and stayed with it all the way. We never gave up a ton."
He could have been talking about his defense pal Adam Pelech who tantalizingly cleared a puck sitting on the red goal line after Varly had made one of his Hair Breath Harry saves.
This second straight win actually was saved on that play, and Varly provided the perfect squelch in the post-game celebration.
"Another 'huge' save by Pel!."