Simeon Varlamov is 20 years old, does not speak English and has played only eight games in the N.H.L. He is such an unknown quantity that even his coach does not seem to know much about him.

“Seven games — that’s how well I know him,” Washington Capitals Coach Bruce Boudreau said Tuesday during practice at Madison Square Garden, missing Varlamov’s total by one.

“My level of communication with him is patting him on the back and saying ‘Good game’ or ‘Go get ’em,’ ” he added.

Boudreau surely had not forgotten Varlamov’s eighth game with the team — a 33-save shutout Monday night in a 4-0 victory over the Rangers that helped the Capitals trim their deficit in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series to 2-1.