Islanders 4, Predators 3 (SO): Varlamov's First Win Since 2024

October 27, 2026 - Nashville - Semyon Varlamov had not won an NHL game since Nov. 14, 2024. Both knees had been partially replaced. He was 0-1-2 in three starts this season. Bridgestone Arena watched New York blow a 3-0 lead, then watched him stop the last five shots of regulation and two more in the shootout. Kyle Palmieri scored the only goal that counted after 65 minutes. Varlamov told NHL.com that a year ago he did not see this coming.

The New York Islanders beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 in a shootout. New York is 6-4-2, 2-1-1 in its last four, and it had been 0-4-3 in this building since Oct. 28, 2017, the NHL recap said. Nashville is 4-3-5, three losses in four (1-1-2). The Associated Press recap said the Predators are 0-5 in games that have gone past regulation. Shots were 28-23 New York. Varlamov, Anthony Duclair, Palmieri, Alexander Kerfoot, Daemon Hunt, Tony DeAngelo, Jonathan Marchessault, and Nicolas Hague are not seeded on AthX player pages, so those names stay unlinked.

Duclair, Brayden Schenn, and Bo Horvat scored in regulation. Palmieri and Horvat scored in the shootout. Varlamov stopped 20 of 23, then Ryan O'Reilly and Filip Forsberg. Forsberg had a goal and an assist. Kerfoot scored. O'Reilly scored. Juuse Saros stopped 25 of 28.

Three-nothing, then the Predators remembered how to skate

Duclair tipped Jean-Gabriel Pageau at 3:07, 4-on-4. DeAngelo the other assist. 1-0.

Schenn made it 2-0 at 8:07. Duclair's pass deflected off Hague to Ondrej Palat. Palat found Schenn for a backhand tap-in. The NHL recap called it his 300th NHL goal, eighth player from the 2009 draft to get there.

Horvat one-timed Matthew Schaefer from the right circle at 1:08 of the second. Simon Holmstrom the other assist. 3-0. Schaefer's point streak is five games (two goals, three assists). The NHL recap said he became the seventh defenseman in league history with at least 70 points (25 goals, 45 assists) as a teenager.

Forsberg scored on the power play at 9:42, a no-look from Marchessault at the near post. Steven Stamkos the other assist. The Associated Press recap said Forsberg has goals in two straight after one in his first 10 games.

Kerfoot poked in a puck that trickled behind Varlamov after Nils Hoglander shot at 13:02. 3-2.

O'Reilly tied it at 4:16 of the third, a backhand on a rebound Hunt put on net. Hunt's first point since a waiver claim from Minnesota on Saturday, the NHL recap said. O'Reilly told NHL.com it took too long to get going, and that the game was winnable.

Five minutes of Schaefer, then Palmieri

Varlamov stopped Nashville's last five shots in regulation. Peter DeBoer told NHL.com he was huge when they needed him, a little better every night after the time away. Horvat told NHL.com he was just so happy for him.

Schaefer played all five minutes of overtime, the first skater on record to do that since real-time ice-time tracking started in 2009-10, the NHL recap said. It was also the longest Islanders shift on record, past Casey Cizikas (4:50 on March 9, 2023).

Shootout: Palmieri scored. Horvat scored. Varlamov stopped O'Reilly and Forsberg. New York 4-3. Shootout goals do not add on the skater card. The extra point still pays the team.

Andrew Brunette told NHL.com the start was not where they wanted it, and that he liked the grit in the comeback. Varlamov called it an amazing feeling and thanked the people in the rehab. The NHL recap said his 77th win with New York tied Roland Melanson for eighth in Islanders history. Each club used 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

AthX Engine on a 4-3 that paid the extra point

AthX Engine (our projection and scoring system) scored Forsberg at 9.40 (one goal, one assist, four shots, one block, one power-play bonus, two penalty minutes). Kerfoot is 7.80. O'Reilly is 5.60. Horvat is 5.20. Schenn is 5.10. Holmstrom is 4.80. Duclair and Schaefer are 4.70. Varlamov's win, 20 saves, and three goals against land at 7.40. Saros's overtime loss is 6.90 on 25 saves.

New York's team line is 17.80. Nashville's overtime loss is 8.60.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what traders will pay for a 38-year-old who had both knees replaced, and for a Predators group that is 0-5 past regulation. They are not the same number.

Track Horvat, Forsberg, Schaefer, and both clubs on the marketplace. New York visits Minnesota on Thursday. Washington visits Nashville that night.

*Sources: AP recap (ESPN), ESPN box score, NHL.com recap, NHL.com scoreboard, ESPN NHL scoreboard. AthX Engine fantasy points scored from NHL gamecenter box 2026020192. Information only; not financial advice.*