Avs Varlamov Gets Five-Year Extension and Win, Battle of the NY Teams at MSG

The Colorado Avalanche (34-14-5) has rewarded goalie Semyon Varlamov for his good play this season by giving him a five-year extension on Thursday that runs through the 2018-19 season. According to ESPN, the contract has a $29.5 million total value ($5.9 million a year annually).

Semyon Varlamov

With the addition of first-year coach Patrick Roy, a Hall of Fame goalie, and goaltender coach Francois Allaire this summer,Varlamov has attributed this season’s good play to their coaching. He entered Thursday’s game with a 26-9-5 record (now at 27) in 42 games played and a 2.43 goals-against average. He sits as No. 2 in the league for saves at 1,199.

The Avalanche acquired him on July 1, 2011 after he entered the league as a first-round selection by the Washington Capitals (24-22-8).

Avalanche Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Joe Sakic said of the player via CBS Sports, “Undoubtedly, Semyon has been an impact player for us this season. At only 25 years old, he is entering the prime years of his career and he wants to be part of this franchise moving forward. We are very excited to have come to terms with him and the fact that he has agreed to a five-year extension demonstrates his commitment to the Avalanche and what we’re trying to accomplish.”

For this year’s Olympics, Varlamov will play on the Russian team.

On Thursday, the Avs defeated the Minnesota Wild (29-21-6), 5-4. Fresh off signing his extension, Varlamov had a great game with 35 saves. His teammate John Mitchell scored one goal and an assist along with Nathan MacKinnon, Ryan O’Reilly, Paul Stastny and Maxime Talbot also getting goals. Matt Duchene added two assists.

Goalie Darcy Kuemper started the game and had 19 saves but he was replaced by Niklas Backstrom in an effort to change the momentum. It may have helped as Minnesota came alive in the third period scoring three goals to come within one. But they fell short.

For the night Zach Parise scored two goals and two assists while Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville also contributed scores for the Wild.

With the win, Colorado is solid in its’ third place standing and it has an automatic playoff seed for the Central Division. The team sits at 22/1 to win the 2014 Stanley Cup. On Saturday it will play the Buffalo Sabres (15-30-8).

As for the Wild, they are 40/1 for a Stanley Cup victory. They’ll play the Calgary Flames (20-27-7) on Saturday.

In Friday night games, there’s a battle of the two New York teams at Madison Square Garden with the New York Islanders (21-27-8) vs. the New York Rangers (29-23-3).

Which team will overcome the Garden curse?

These teams know each other well as they’ll enter Friday’s game for their third meeting over 11 days. They will enter with a Rangers advantage at the Garden and with another victory, it will be their first sweep there.

Henrik Lundqvist

The Rangers also have a two-game win streak going and have won their last eight of 11 games. But history isn’t on their side as they’ve lost their last two games at the Garden and hold a 12-13-3 record. In their last three matchups against the Islanders on this ice, they’re 0-3; two have already occurred this season with the most recent one on Jan. 21.

Fortunately, the Islanders don’t really fare much better at this venue. They haven’t won three consecutive games here in one season since 2006-07. Furthermore, they have never won every game meeting there in a single season when they play in Manhattan more than two times, according to STATS LLC.

Since last week’s win at the Garden, the Islanders are 0-3-1. Look for this losing streak to continue as the Rangers get the win (-170, 5.5 o/u).

Here’s a look at Friday’s other games:

St. Louis (-135, 5.5 o) at Carolina 

Washington at Detroit  (-135, 5.5 u)

New Jersey at Nashville (-125, 5 u)

Vancouver at Winnipeg (-115, 5.5 u)