It took just 55 seconds for a puck to sneak past Semyon Varlamov on Thursday night, a weasel of a first shot that poked under his armpit off the stick of a Carolina shooter. It did nothing to dissuade the veteran Avalanche goaltender from reaching a record.
Varlamov dominated over the next 59 minutes, stopping 57 shots in the Avs’ 5-3 victory over the Hurricanes. The Russian set a career-high and an Avalanche regular season record — not since Ron Tugnutt stopped 70 shots for the Quebec Nordiques in 1991 at the Boston Garden against the Bruins has this franchise seen a three-period performance to match Varlamov’s output at the Pepsi Center.