Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar announced on Tuesday afternoon that goalie Semyon Varlamov is out on a “day-to-day” basis after tweaking his groin.
With Varlamov sidelined, that means the Avalanche will have to recall goaltender Spencer Martin from the San Antonio Rampage of the American Hockey League.
Varlamov had an interesting weekend for the Avalanche, giving up six goals in relief of Calvin Pickard on Friday night during a 10-1 loss. He came back the following night with the start and pretty much single handedly beat the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 51-save (on 52 shots) performance.
It was, by far, his best game of the season.
Through Tuesday he has appeared in 19 games and has managed only a .904 save percentage and is currently leading the league with 12 losses. That performance is a significant drop from his career numbers, and especially since he joined the Avalanche six years ago. But as he showed on Saturday night he is still capable of putting together a dominant performance.
It is likely that Pickard (who has been the Avalanche’s best goalie this season) will start as long as Varlamov is sidelined with Martin serving as the backup. He is going to get the start on Wednesday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Varlamov has already missed time this season due to an upper body injury.
Martin, the Avalanche’s third-round pick (No. 63 overall) in 2013 has yet to appear in an NHL game but has been outstanding so far this season with San Antonio, posting a .924 save percentage in 18 appearances.