Islanders Beat Stars 3-2 in Overtime There was some positivity on the Semyon Varlamov [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/semyon-varlamov-new-york-islanders-ilya-sorokin-ir-ken-appleby] front when he took the ice with his New York Islanders [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-islanders/latest-news/patrick-roy-new-york-islanders-anders-lee-mat-barzal-bo-horvat-noah-dobson] teammates Sunday morning for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on Jan. 2. Varlamov had been skating daily, on his own, and while that was a good first step, it was clear he wasn't 100 percent ready to go as Ken Appleby backed up Ilya Sorokin Sunday night against the Dallas Stars. Sorokin has started every game in Varlamov's absence, making nine consecutive starts (3-5-1) and 14 consecutive appearances. Although Sorokin was brilliant against the Stars, stopping 40 shots in a 3-2 overtime win, he's played a lot of hockey and has faced a tremendous amount of shots. But, given the Islander's struggles and the standings, it was clear that the organization didn't want to go to Appleby unless they had to, as the AHL goaltender made one appearance, in relief, last Monday in a 5-0 beatdown by the Minnesota Wild. It seems like one practice was all Varlamov needed to be ready to return to the roster, as the Islanders announced Monday evening that the 35-year-old had been activated out of Injured Reserve. Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAzMzU3MzA0MzQ1NjAxNjE1/usatsi_22211476.jpg] To make room for Varlamov, Appleby was returned to Bridgeport. The Islanders play every other game this week, hosting the Vegas Golden Knights Tuesday night before going to Montreal to battle the Canadiens Thursday, ending the week with a Saturday night showdown with the Florida Panthers before the All-Star break. Will Varlamov get into one of those games with how critical the week is? We will find out, but regardless, having Varlamov as an option is critical to allowing Sorokin a chance to take a breather if need be. Varlamov is 6-4-2 on the season, with a 2.78 GAA and a .918 SV% with two shutouts. You can watch Rosner talk Islanders hockey on Hockey Night in New York [http://hockeynightny.com/] with co-host Sean Cuthbert [https://twitter.com/seanyhockey] live Sunday nights at 8 PM ET during the season on Twitch [https://www.twitch.tv/hockeynightny], YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@hockeynightny], Twitter [https://twitter.com/hockeynightny] & Facebook [https://facebook.com/hockeynightny].
