Semyon Varlamov in his shutout of Nashville. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov had his fourth shutout of the season Friday night against Nashville, and afterwards — before the media met with Colorado coach Patrick Roy — I politely prefaced my question to Varlamov with the concession that no NHL shutout is easy. Then I asked if this was one of his easier shutouts.
Varlamov laughed before answering.
“To get a shutout in this league is not easy, I can tell you that,” he said. “It’s always tough. But today I think we played solid 60 minutes and the boys played unbelievable in front of me. I saw lots of shots from the blue line, which is important for me — to see the shots. I hate when I don’t see the shots. But the guys did a great job. And I think we had a good start, too. It’s very important to score the first goal in this league so that you get that confidence and you play with confidence for the rest of the game.”
In Varlamov’s previous three shutouts, he had:
— 40 saves against the New York Islanders on Oct. 30.
— 26 saves against St. Louis on Dec. 27.
— 54 saves against Chicago on Jan. 6.
A fashion aside: The Avalanche improved to 6-1 in its third jerseys with the win over the Predators. But if that brings up possible wardrobe suggestions for the stretch run, the third-jersey games must be scheduled before the season.
Looking ahead: The Avs don’t play again until Tuesday, at Dallas, so I was a bit surprised to hear that they will practice Saturday.
In closing: In line with what I ended up using as the beginning to my game story, I asked Jarome Iginla if he ever had met Dino Ciccarelli, with whom he now is tied at 1,200 career points. He said he believed he had played against Ciccarelli early in his career, when Ciccarelli was with Tampa Bay, but he didn’t believe he had officially met him. If he had said yes, of course, I would have asked if they ever had shaken hands.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or twitter.com/TFrei
