October 12, 2013 6:50 pm

Photo credit: khl.ru

Former Washington Capitals goaltender Semyon Varlamov returns to the Verizon Center tonight for the first time since he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche on July 1, 2011.

While Varly told The Denver Post’s Adrian Dater that he was “so excited to be coming back,” he also faces a tough challenge in his former teammate and captain, Alex Ovechkin.

“In the NHL, I’ve never played against him,” Varlamov said to Dater. “I played against him one time back in Russia, when he played for Dynamo and I played for Lokomotiv. I’m looking forward to playing against him. It’s going to be a tough game, for sure. He’s a great player.”

The game Varlamov speaks of was actually during the lock-out last season on October 22, 2012. He fails to mention a few tiny details. Dynamo would win 3-0. And Ovechkin totally scored on him.

Ovechkin’s goal is at the 48 seconds.

Ovechkin, skating on the left wing, curls to the middle of the ice, uses a Lokomotiv defenseman as a screen, and snaps a shot past Varlamov. That move seems like such a distant memory.

Not only did Ovechkin score, he almost beat up half the team. After Lokomotiv players took liberties with him, Ovechkin tried to fight two of their players.