NHL goaltender Semyon Varlamov returned to play after a 676-day absence due to two partial knee replacements, making his debut in a regular-season game against the New York Rangers on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden. Despite facing only 22 shots and allowing five goals, including three before the Rangers scored into an empty net, Varlamov expressed relief that he feels no limitations in his performance. The article highlights that this comeback is unprecedented among professional athletes in major U.S. sports leagues, as partial knee replacements typically prevent players from returning to high-impact activities like skating.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
One of the many great mysteries of everything that’s happened since that afternoon is that Varlamov was not declared injured until two games later.
asserted
Varlamov → happen → afternoon
He backed up Ilya Sorokin the next day against Buffalo and sat on the bench in Montreal for another overtime loss three days later.
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He → back → loss
Only then did the Islanders begin to hold him out with what was initially called a lower-body injury.
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what → begin → him
It is almost miraculous that those days did not mark the end of Varlamov’s NHL career.
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days → mark → career
Nearly two years and two partial knee replacements later, the now-38-year-old Varlamov led the Islanders onto the Madison Square Garden ice Tuesday night, his first time starting a regular-season game since an injury that seemed almost certain to keep him from doing exactly that ever again.
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that → lead → that
“Everything feels great.
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Everything → feel → ?
Everything feels 100 percent,” Varlamov, two bulky knee pads in tow, said after an eventual 5-2 loss to the Rangers.
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pads → feel → Rangers
“Nothing holds me back, which is great news.”
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which → hold → me
While Varlamov will want more performance-wise — he gave up three goals on 22 shots before the Rangers scored twice into an empty net — if there was ever a night in which a player was above criticism, this was it.
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this → want → criticism
It likely didn’t help either that the Rangers took until 6:40 into the game to take their first shot — an Oliver Bjorkstrand slapper that Varlamov admitted surprised him, and which went in — or that it took until 12:12 for another shot, which Varlamov saved from Mika Zibanejad.
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Varlamov → help → Zibanejad
“When you haven’t played a game for a while, of course, so many thoughts going through your head,” Varlamov said.
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Varlamov → play → head
“How are you gonna perform tonight, what’s gonna happen and just a thousand thousand thoughts going through your head during the day and before the game.
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what → go → game
That piece of the equation, presumably, will fade as the novelty of Varlamov playing fades into the rhythms of a season.
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Varlamov → fade → season
The Post has been unable to find another example of an athlete in any of the four major professional U.S. sports who returned from two partial knee replacements.
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who → find → replacements
The procedure generally entails replacing only the damaged part of the knee, leaving the rest of it intact.
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procedure → entail → it
Dustin Pedroia, the former MVP second baseman for the Red Sox who suffered a severe knee injury in 2017, underwent a series of procedures in an attempt to return to play before getting his knee partially replaced in 2020.
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knee → suffer → 2020
The surgery, Pedroia said at the time, meant he would never play again, “because of the fear that it breaks and the rest of my life would be severely impacted by it.”
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rest → say → it
When reached on Tuesday, Pedroia said in a text that he would be rooting for Varlamov.
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he → reach → Varlamov
“Semyon will be fine!” Pedroia told The Post.
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Pedroia → tell → Post
“With the partial replacement, the big concern is pounding from impact like jogging or running.
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concern → pound → jogging
Skating is actually good for the joints cause it builds quad muscles and legs fire to keep pressure off the joint!
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legs → build → joint
This is cool to see, I will be pulling for him!!!”
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I → see → him
Islanders general manager Mathieu Darche said last week that the club doesn’t anticipate needing to do any special monitoring of Varlamov.
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club → say → Varlamov
The team’s doctors, he said, were stunned after doing annual physicals this year.
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he → say → physicals
“They’re like, I don’t know what to tell you.
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I → ’re → you
This is extremely impressive,” Darche recalled.
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Darche → recall → ?
Without any apparent reason to slow down, the Islanders went ahead with Varlamov as their backup goaltender this season.
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Islanders → slow → goaltender
He got through 1 ½ preseason games, and DeBoer has said the plan is for him to start “at least” 30 games behind Ilya Sorokin.
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him → get → Sorokin
“As his teammate, his friend, it’s just so awesome to see,” said Kyle Palmieri, who spent last season rehabbing his torn ACL alongside Varlamov.
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who → ’ → Varlamov
“I had a front row seat to watch him come in and prepare his body and just, day in and day out, I think he just found a way to enjoy that process.
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he → have → process
Take it day by day and here he is.
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he → take → day
It’s so cool to be a part of it, and as a group and as a room, we’re thrilled to have him back.”
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we → ’ → him
The Aporia
