NY Islanders activate Semyon Varlamov from IR, send Cory Schneider to Bridgeport

The injury bug has bitten the NY Islanders hard as of late. The Islanders have been without Semyon Varlamov for a few weeks now and have heavily relied on Ilya Sorokin in net with Cory Schneider as his backup. When the Islanders were preparing to set out for their four-game Pacific Division road trip that started in Seattle against the Kraken, the good bit of news was that Cal Clutterbuck, Kyle Palmieri, and Varlamov were all going to travel with the team. On Monday afternoon, the Islanders announced a good bit of news that Varly has been activated from the injured reserve.

Varlamov's activation comes with the corresponding move that Schneider has been returned to the AHL Bridgeport Islanders. The 36-year-old veteran saw no game action in the six games he dressed as Sorokin's backup. In that six-game span, head coach Lane Lambert road Sorokin who totaled a 3-2-1 record and a .944 SV% and pitched a 44-save shutout in a shootout loss against the Colorado Avalanche.

Despite playing in Seattle on Monday, we all heard the Islander fanbase collectively gasp when Sorokin appeared to have suffered an injury in the third period of the game on a hard shot by former Islander, Jordan Eberle, that hit the Islander netminder in the mask. However, Sorokin shook it off and finished the contest which was followed by a collective sigh of relief.

The Islanders have three games remaining on the road taking on the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night, followed by back-to-back games on Thursday and Friday against the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames respectively. Varlamov will certainly receive one start in the back-to-back on Thursday or Friday, and could even tend the net on Tuesday against the Canucks to give Sorokin a breather following his busy schedule.