Islanders vs. Predators: Semyon Varlamov Ends a 712-Day Wait as New York Wins in a Shootout

Seven hundred and twelve days. That is how long Semyon Varlamov had waited for another NHL win, by the Islanders' count, and when Bo Horvat's shootout attempt settled it on Tuesday night, his teammates came pouring into the crease and smothered their 38-year-old goalie.

The New York Islanders beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in a shootout at Bridgestone Arena, with Kyle Palmieri and Horvat scoring and Nashville coming up empty on both of its attempts. Varlamov made 20 saves for his first victory since Nov. 14, 2024. It also gave the Islanders their first win in Nashville since Oct. 28, 2017, ending a seven-game losing run in this building. Not bad for a night that nearly got away from them.

Three Goals Up, Then Three Goals Gone

For the better part of 30 minutes, this looked like a walkover. Anthony Duclair tipped one in at 3:07 of the first, with Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Tony DeAngelo assisting. Brayden Schenn followed at 8:07 with a backhand, Ondrej Palat drawing the lone assist, and that one carried some weight: it was the 300th goal of his career. Then, just 1:08 into the second, Matthew Schaefer threw a pass across the ice and Horvat hammered a one-timer past Juuse Saros. It was 3-0, and the Islanders were cruising.

Nashville, which had routed Colorado 6-2 two nights earlier, refused to go quietly. Filip Forsberg got the Predators on the board with a power-play wrister at 9:42 of the second, set up by Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos. At 13:02, Alexander Kerfoot pounced on the rebound of a Nils Hoglander shot to make it 3-2. Then, 4:16 into the third, Ryan O'Reilly backhanded home a puck that was sitting free in the crease, with Daemon Hunt and Forsberg assisting. Three goals, gone, and suddenly the Islanders were the team hanging on.

The Turning Point: Varlamov Holds the Fort

Every comeback needs one more push, and Nashville got a chance at it. Midway through the third, with the game tied 3-3 and the Predators on the power play, Varlamov made a big stop on Forsberg, according to the Islanders. In the final 1:44 of regulation, the skaters in front of him blocked five shots to get the game to overtime.

That was the hinge. Nashville had all the momentum and a man advantage, and Varlamov took it away. Head coach Pete DeBoer did not hedge on his assessment. "He was our best player tonight," DeBoer said.

Overtime belonged to a 19-year-old. Schaefer stayed on the ice for all five minutes of the extra period, and per the Islanders, citing the NHL's media site, he is the first skater on record to play an entire overtime since real-time ice time began being tracked in 2009-10. He still had the legs at the end of it to get back and erase a possible Nashville breakaway.

Then came the shootout. O'Reilly went first and came up empty, with the team crediting Varlamov's poke check. Palmieri scored on New York's first attempt. Forsberg missed wide right. Horvat buried his chance, and the celebration was on.

The Night's Biggest Performers

Varlamov's line, 20 saves on 23 shots for an .870 save percentage, will not wow anyone on its own. Context is everything here. "It's an amazing feeling, a very special moment," he said. "A year ago, to be honest with you, I didn't see this coming." He later added, "So I'm just humble and very, very thankful."

Schaefer finished with a career-high 32:16 of ice time and extended his point streak to five games with the assist on Horvat's goal. DeBoer sounded like a man who has run out of superlatives. "He was all over the ice tonight, like he is every night," he said. "He just wants to make a difference every shift, and that's what's so special about him."

Horvat had a goal and the clinching shootout tally, logged 26:04 and went 11-for-21 on faceoffs. Schenn's 300th made him the eighth player from the 2009 draft to reach the mark and the 249th in NHL history, per the team. He kept the credit pointed outward. "I've had a lot of great linemates over the course of my career, and like I said, I just got rewarded by my teammates," Schenn said.

For Nashville, Forsberg, the club's all-time leading goal scorer according to the AP, had a goal and an assist and has found the net in back-to-back games after managing one goal through his first 10. O'Reilly has three goals in his last two games. Saros stopped 24 of 27 shots.

Stats That Matter

• 712: Days between Varlamov wins, according to the Islanders.
• 32:16: Schaefer's ice time, including every second of overtime.
• 300: Schenn's career goals after his first-period backhand.
• 19-6: Nashville's giveaways compared with New York's. Hard to protect anything when you keep handing the puck back.
• 0-5: The Predators' record this season in games that go past regulation.

What It Means

The Islanders move to 6-4-2 with 14 points and snap a two-game winless skid that included a 6-3 loss in Dallas on Sunday. "It was a great response game by our group after the Dallas game," DeBoer said. "This is a hard league to win in, and this is a hard building to win in." New York is now 2-3-1 on the road and wraps up its three-game trip Thursday in Minnesota.

Nashville falls to 4-3-5 with 13 points and 3-2-2 at home. The Predators keep collecting single points, but five losses beyond regulation in 12 games is a pattern, not a fluke. Washington visits Thursday, and Nashville would love to take one of these coin flips the other way for once.

Roll the Credits

Hollywood would probably call this script too sentimental: the veteran goalie, nearly two years between wins, a blown three-goal lead and a shootout to finish it. The Islanders did not care about subtlety. They just mobbed their goalie, and they will gladly take the two points that came with it.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and team notes as reported by the New York Islanders on nhl.com.