The Goalie Report: Risers & Fallers

With the trade deadline just around the corner and playoff races heating up, goaltending is going to be as important as ever. From red-hot tandems, late-season call-ups and teams on the verge of pressing the panic button, we've got it all in this week's Goalie Report. 

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Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta, Hurricanes (Combined since Jan. 1: 15-1-1, .922 Sv%, 2.09 GAA)

That combined record has been amazing, and instead it's been Pyotr Kochetkov (0-3-1, .861 Sv%, 3.72 GAA since Jan. 1) who has been the liability recently after keeping the Canes going when Andersen and Raanta were injured earlier in the year. The Canes might have the strongest tandem in the league along with Boston's Linus Ullmark and Jeremy Swayman, and both goalies deserve to be rostered. Andersen is the starter, but in order to keep him fresh and prevent him from getting injured, Carolina will be leaning quite a bit on Raanta as well. Fantasy managers who have space to roster both certainly should do so.

Filip Gustavsson, Wild (Since Jan. 1: 7-3-2, .936 Sv%, 1.85 GAA)

Gustavsson helped the Wild pick up a point Friday against the Leafs by allowing just two goals on 24 shots, only to lose to a highlight-reel goal by William Nylander, who picked Frederick Gaudreau's pocket and dipsy-doodled his way to the net. If it hasn't been made abundantly clear, Gustavsson should be rostered in all fantasy leagues due to his excellent play. The only drawback has been the Wild's anemic offense, which means wins will be hard to come by.

Stuart Skinner, Oilers (15-11-4, .913 Sv%, 2.89 GAA)

That's now two straight starts and two straight wins for Skinner, who seems to have taken the starting job from Jack Campbell once again. Campbell is probably the streakiest goalie in the league, and after rattling off eight straight wins, he allowed 14 goals in three games, all of which were overtime losses. Granted, Skinner got some easy assignments against the Flyers and the struggling Pens, but the wins put him back in the driver's seat. Skinner is worth rostering in all leagues, and it's safe to dump Campbell to the waiver wire once again.

Vitek Vanecek, Devils (25-6-3, .913 Sv%, 2.37 GAA)

This has undoubtedly been Vanecek's best season in his young career, but note that with four more appearances he'll tie his career high, which was set last season. This is significant because the workload for goalies has gotten much tougher in recent seasons, and very few goalies get more than 60 games' worth of work in a season. Fatigue is a major factor, but the Devils may not have much of a choice but to take that risk because Mackenzie Blackwood is being evaluated with a lower-body injury and miss more time. Akira Schmid is the current backup, but he's unlikely to see much time considering his relative inexperience. Prior to his re-assignment back to the AHL, he'd lost four games in a row.

The Devils are a shoo-in for the playoffs, but home-ice advantage will be important and the Rangers sit just six points behind and bolstered their lineup recently with Vladimir Tarasenko. There's still a lot of pressure to win games, which means the Devils will continue to lean on Vanecek. The potential increase in playing time is surely going to add additional value in what has already been a surprisingly good performance this season.

Arturs Silovs, Canucks (2-1-0, .895 Sv%, 2.97 GAA)

Thatcher Demko may return this season, which means Silovs would head back to the AHL, but in the meantime, Silovs has started three of Vancouver's past four games. It's his reward for having such a strong season with AHL Abbotsford, and there's certainly some fantasy value as a streaming option. First, the Canucks offense has continued its brilliance (thanks to Elias Pettersson) even after trading captain Bo Horvat. Second, Silovs will continue to get ice time as long as Spencer Martin (currently in the AHL) and Collin Delia continue to struggle. In a weak Pacific Division, Silovs might be worth a streaming start or two down the stretch.  

Connor Ingram, Coyotes (Since Jan. 1: 3-4-3, .941 Sv%, 2.18 GAA)

Never mind the record — it's actually kind of amazing Ingram has remained close to .500 playing for the lowly Coyotes. But, since Jan. 1, Ingram leads the league in save percentage and ranks fifth in GAA among goalies with at least 10 starts. That's an incredible feat considering he played just three games in the prior season with the Predators and is already on his third NHL team since turning pro.

There's no pressure for the Coyotes to win — in fact, it's in their best interest to lose as much as possible — but Ingram's strong play has been tough to ignore, and the expectation is that he'll continue to eat into Karel Vejmelka's share of the playing time. We shouldn't count on Ingram to pull off major upsets, such as his 47-save shutout against the Lightning, but at the very least he can rack up 40-plus saves on any given night.

Alex Lyon, Panthers (3-2-1, .887 Sv%, 3.89 GAA)

Lyon is back with the big club after Spencer Knight was admitted into the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, and there is no return date set for Knight's return. How much playing time Lyon will get remains to be seen, but note that his performances were better than his stats indicate, and on two occasions, he faced at least 40 shots behind an inconsistent and shoddy defensive team. Look for Sergei Bobrovsky to get the bulk of the starts, but when he inevitably struggles, Lyon will step in and might be worth a streaming start.

Lukas Dostal, Ducks (2-5-1, .895 Sv%, 4.23 GAA)

Look, the Ducks aren't going to win games, but it's worth noting that Dostal is getting some playing time with Anthony Stolarz injured. Since getting called up, Dostal has allowed 13 goals in two games, but they were tough opponents in the Lightning and Sabres, and he certainly gets no help from his defense. Dostal is the Ducks' potential goalie of the future in the post-John Gibson era and a name to remember going forward.

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Jacob Markstrom and Dan Vladar, Flames (Combined: 27-20-12, .893 Sv%, 2.92 GAA)

It's become downright hard to watch. Not only do the Flames have trouble committing to either goalie, neither of them have been able to string together strong performances. It's been a headache for fantasy managers trying to figure out the rotation, and with the trade deadline approaching and the playoff races heating up, the Flames are no closer to finding a solution than they were a few months ago. At this point, it's best to just avoid both goalies altogether until they can establish some sort of rhythm.

Tristan Jarry, Penguins (Past two games: 0-2-0, .850 Sv%, 5.49 GAA)

It's been a disastrous return to the crease for Jarry, who was supposed to bring a spark to the Penguins after Casey DeSmith and Dustin Tokarski both floundered in his absence. If Jarry doesn't play well, the Penguins simply have no chance at making the playoffs. He allowed three goals on 31 shots to the rival Isles, and in his following start was pulled after allowing six goals on 29 shots. The Pens have no choice but to go with Jarry unless they trade for another goalie, but until Jarry regains his form, it's best to leave him on the bench. It's not an easy schedule coming up, with the Pens facing the Lightning twice in their next four games.