After starting Thomas Greiss in each of their past two playoff games, the New York Islanders are going back to Semyon Varlamov for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday night.
Varlamov lost consecutive overtime games in the Second Round to the Philadelphia Flyers (giving up nine goals in those two games) prompting Islanders coach Barry Trotz to turn to Greiss for Game 7. When he recorded a shutout in a dominant Islanders’ defensive performance, Greiss was rewarded with the Game 1 start against Tampa Bay on Monday night.
It did not go well.
Greiss was pulled from that game just 10 minutes in after surrendering three goals on nine shots.
He was replaced by Varlamov who allowed five goals on 25 shots in an 8-2 loss.
[NBC 2020 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFF HUB]
The starting goalie is not the only lineup change for the Islanders on Wednesday.
Forwards Derick Brassard and Ross Johnston will also be out of the lineup, while Andrew Ladd and Leo Komarov will play in their places.
This will be Ladd’s first game action since early March and his first playoff game since the 2016 postseason when he was still a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Cal Clutterbuck is also in the lineup after being limited to just six minutes on Monday.
No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 6 New York Islanders (TB leads 1-0)
Series preview
Game 1: Lightning 8, Islanders 2. (recap)
Game 2: Lightning 2, Islanders 1 (recap)
Game 3: Friday, Sept. 11, 8 p.m. ET – USA (livestream)
Game 4: Sunday, Sept. 13, 3 p.m. ET – NBC (livestream)
*Game 5: Tuesday, Sept. 15, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN
*Game 6: Thursday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m. ET – NBCSN
*Game 7: Saturday, Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m. ET – NBC
*if necessary
MORE STANLEY CUP COVERAGE:
• Stanley Cup Playoffs Conference Final schedule
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.