Avalanche's Semyon Varlamov: Under fire in shutout loss

Varlamov was bombarded with 40 shots by the Capitals on Tuesday, and he stopped 37 of them en route to a 3-0 loss.

Analysis:

After backup Calvin Pickard got the start in the front end of the Avs' back-to-back set and beat the Penguins by a 4-3 score in overtime, it seemed the team didn't have a whole lot of energy left to support Varlamov in an equally tough matchup against Washington. Colorado got outshot 40-18 by a Caps team that seemed to possess the puck all game long, but the Russian netminder deserves credit for keeping his team in the game. It's worth watching how the starts break out here moving forward, though, as Pickard is one of the league's most intriguing young goalies, while Varlamov has been injury-prone and is coming off a mediocre year.