Here is a look at each team’s goaltending situation heading into week 7 of the fantasy season (November 16th – November 22nd).
Atlantic Division
| New Jersey Devils | 1. Brodeur 2. Danis |
@Philadelphia, @Nashville, @Dallas | Safe to Start. The Devils are playing fantastic right now. No reason to change anything here. |
| New York Islanders | 1. Roloson 1a. Biron |
@Boston, @Minnesota, @St. Louis | Use Caution. The Isles play all three games away from home this week but they have been a bit better of late. Due to the platooning situation, though, it’s tough to say they’re a safe play in a weekly roster set league. |
| New York Rangers | 1. Lundqvist 2. Valiquette |
Washington, Florida | Safe to Start. The Rangers only have two games this week vs. a couple Southeastern teams. Ovechkin is slated to come back on Tuesday just in time to play against the Rangers, otherwise that would have been a much better match-up for NY, especially with some of the injuries they have themselves. The game against Florida could be a toss-up due to the Panthers’ up and down play this season. Expect Lundy to play both games, as they’re spaced apart. |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 1. Emery 2. Boucher |
New Jersey, @Los Angeles, @San Jose, @Phoenix | Safe to Start. The Flyers have a busy scheduling coming up for the next several days. Starting off with the smoking hot Devils and they head out west to play some pretty decent teams. Philly is playing well (as is Emery) but they could be splitting some of these games this week, so be prepared for that. |
| Pittsburgh Penguins | 1. Fleury 2. Johnson |
Anaheim, @Ottawa, @Atlanta | Safe to Start. Malkin is back in the lineup and he came back strong with a 3 assist night his first game back. Fleury has not been great the last little bit, as he’s on a personal four game losing streak. The Pens won their last game with Johnson in net, hopefully Fleury can get back on track with Malkin back. |
Northeast Division
| Boston Bruins | 1. Thomas 2. Rask |
New York Islanders, @Atlanta, @Buffalo | Use Caution. Rask will be getting the start vs. NYI but expect Thomas to play against the hot Thrashers and Sabres. Thomas gave up six goals against the Pens last game and is under .500 on the year. Atlanta and Buffalo are both playing very well and Boston has not been that consistent thus far this season so be wary. | |
| Buffalo Sabres | 1. Miller 2. Lalime |
Florida, Boston, @Ottawa | Safe to Start. After alternating wins and losses to start the month, Miller is back on a three game winning streak. All three opponents this week have been inconsistent this year so if the Sabres can play like they have been all season, the results should be favorable for Buffalo. | |
| Montreal Canadiens | 1. Price 1a. Halak |
Carolina, @Washington, Detroit | Use Caution. Carey Price was the hard luck loser last game against the Predators where he made 53 saves on 55 shots but still ended up losing 0-2 to a Nashville team that has struggled to score goals this season. At the same time, the Habs themselves have been very underwhelming thus far. They could be in for a tough week with the Caps and Red Wings later on. Hopefully they can get a win vs. struggling Carolina but that’s not a given. Look for Halak to start at least one game, as well. | |
| Ottawa Senators | 1. Leclaire 2. Elliott |
Toronto, Pittsburgh, Buffalo | Use Caution. Could be an interesting week for the Sens. They could get some trouble from the Leafs, who usually play pretty well against them, and then they have two stronger teams in Pittsburgh and Buffalo. Pascal Leclaire has been rather average this season with an under .900 save percentage. He’s also coming off a game vs. the Flyers where he gave up five goals. The Sens simply aren’t the offensive powerhouse they used to be so Leclaire has to be more consistent, otherwise he risks losing more starts to youngster Elliott. | |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 1. Gustavsson 2. Toskala |
@Ottawa, @Carolina, Washington | Use Caution. The Leafs started off extremely poorly but now they have been getting a bit closer to decent. They play longtime rivals in Ottawa and then head to the Southeast division. Although they could feasibly win all three games, that is pretty unlikely so take this into account. |
Southeast Division
| Atlanta Thrashers | 1. Pavelec 2. Hedberg |
Boston, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay | Use Caution. The Thrashers have been scoring like crazy lately especially with Kovy’s return. ATL should continue their strong scoring, it’s just up to Pavelec and Hedberg to keep up their end of the deal, which has not been as consistently well done. Lehtonen is still going to be out for a while, for anyone keeping track. | |
| Carolina Hurricanes | 1. Leighton 1a. Legace |
@Montreal, Toronto, Tampa Bay | Emergency Basis Only. The Hurricanes snapped their long losing streak finally last week and hopefully they can build on it this week with a few somewhat weaker opponents. However, if you don’t have to, try not to start any Carolina goalies right now, as they simply are not playing well. Without Ward, it will be a tough stretch for them for a long while. | |
| Florida Panthers | 1. Vokoun 2. Clemmensen |
Los Angeles, @Buffalo, @Detroit, @New York Rangers | Safe to Start. The Panthers have a busy schedule coming up but Vokoun, even though he’s 5-8 on the year, has put up 3 shutouts since Halloween, so hopefully he can get back to the form he’s had the past couple weeks. When he’s not shutting teams out, Vokoun usually gives up at least three goals and the Panthers play pretty inconsistently so this is a factor. Even though they have some tough opponents, you should definitely start Vokoun. | |
| Tampa Bay Lightning | 1. Smith 2. Niittymaki |
@Phoenix, @Anaheim, @Carolina, @Atlanta | Safe to Start. The Bolts have a solid four games on their schedule so it’s likely Niitty will grab one of the starts, perhaps against Carolina or maybe Atlanta, as they are back to back. | |
| Washington Capitals | 1. Theodore 2. Varlamov |
@New York Rangers, Montreal, @Toronto | Use Caution. Ovechkin is coming back to the lineup vs. NYR but things are starting to get cloudier in the Caps’ goalie situation. Varly has only given up one goal his past two games, one of which he came in to relieve Theodore who got pulled after giving up three goals. Theo’s last game he gave up 5 goals for a loss. It’s still tough to tell who’s going to start when so keep abreast of the starter on a daily basis if you can. Something’s gotta give soon here. |
Central Division
| Chicago Blackhawks | 1. Huet 2. Niemi |
@Calgary, @Edmonton, @Vancouver | Safe to Start. Huet is on a four game winning streak. The Hawks go on a westward road swing but they’ve been playing well so don’t worry too much about them. | |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 1. Mason 2. Garon |
Edmonton, @Dallas, @Nashville | Use Caution. Garon will be getting the start vs. the Oilers so take this into account if you’re a Mason owner in a weekly roster set league. Mason has not had a great season thus far, with his numbers being much, much worse than last year’s. Giving up EIGHT goals against Detroit isn’t helping anything. | |
| Detroit Red Wings | 1. Osgood 2. Howard |
Dallas, Florida, @Montreal | Safe to Start. Osgood gave up five goals against the lowly Leafs and is now out with the flu. Since Osgood’s been out, Howard’s won 3 straight and only gave up one goal in the first two games. Osgood might be back by the end of the week but if you have Howard, don’t have any reservations about starting him for the week. | |
| Nashville Predators | 1. Rinne 1a. Ellis |
San Jose, New Jersey, Columbus | Use Caution. The Rinne & Ellis platoon seems to be continuing. However, Rinne seems to have the latest leg up with a shutout last game and only one goal against the game before. Ellis’ last start was a loss with 4 goals against so it’s likely that Rinne will get at least two of the three starts this week, if not all of them. Take note of this depending on who you have. | |
| St. Louis Blues | 1. Mason 2. Conklin |
Phoenix, New York Islanders | Use Caution. The Blues have not been playing well lately. They only have two games this week though so take a shot with the starts if you think they’ll grab at least one of ‘em. |
Northwest Division
| Calgary Flames | 1. Kiprusoff 2. McElhinney |
Colorado, Chicago, @Los Angeles | Safe to Start. Kipper is 11-3-2 on the year and the Flames are playing pretty well. He has not had a regulation loss in the past 5 games. |
| Colorado Avalanche | 1. Anderson 2. Budaj |
@Calgary, @Edmonton, @Vancouver | Use Caution. Anderson has slipped a bit since his surprisingly stellar start. Anderson hasn’t had a win in the past 6 games or so and the last game they played, against the Canucks, they got shelled for 8 goals against, four on Anderson and then four on Budaj when he came in after Anderson got pulled. Colorado will be taking a road swing through their division this week but it remains to be seen if they can get their mojo back and rebound. Start Anderson if you think they will. Don’t start Budaj, though. |
| Edmonton Oilers | 1. Khabibulin 2. Drouin-Deslauriers |
@Columbus, Colorado, Chicago | Use Caution. Khabibulin should continue to get the majority of the starts but JDD may start to see a few more starts here and there as the season goes on. The Bulin wall has only had one win since the month of November started. The matchups this week are pretty much toss-ups. |
| Minnesota Wild | 1. Backstrom 2. Harding |
Phoenix, New York Islanders | Safe to Start. The Wild have a very lax schedule this week with only two games to play. After the NYI game they have a full four nights off until they play the B’s on the 25th. Both games should be favorable for Minny. |
| Vancouver Canucks | 1. Raycroft 2. Luongo/Schneider |
Colorado, Chicago | Safe to Start. The Canucks do not have to play a game until Friday at home against Colorado and then again on Sunday vs. the Blackhawks. This slow week should give Lungo further time to rest up. After the game against Chicago, Vanvoucer has another few days off. Hopefully Luongo is totally 100% by then. |
Pacific Division
| Anaheim Ducks | 1. Hiller 2. Giguere |
@Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, San Jose | Use Caution. Giguere came off IR last week but is still behind Hiller by a bit right now, regardless of the trade rumors lately. He did still claim that he wants to stay in Anaheim, so things should get interesting down the stretch. The Ducks’ schedule is usually spaced out, so for weekly set rosters it could get annoying with the platooning. They play two strong teams in the Pens and the Sharks, so it’s a toss up for this week if you want to start one of ‘em. |
| Dallas Stars | 1. Turco 2. Auld |
@Detroit, Columbus, New Jersey | Use Caution. Turco continues to be the stalwart in net for the Stars but their record is pretty all over the place. They have a rough schedule this week but the Stars haven’t been playing poorly. |
| Los Angeles Kings | 1. Quick 2. Ersberg |
@Florida, Philadelphia, Calgary | Safe to Start. Quick rebounded after three straight losses with a solid win over the Lightning in a 28 save effort, only giving up one goal. Though they play a couple of good teams in the Flyers and the Flames, the Florida game won’t be a pushover for them either. The Kings have been good at scoring in bunches in their wins but sometimes they fall flat in their losses. |
| Phoenix Coyotes | 1. Bryzgalov 2. LaBarbera |
Tampa Bay, @Minnesota, @St. Louis, Philadelphia | Safe to Start. The Coyotes have a heavy schedule and should put up a good fight in each game. Bryz has been alternating wins and losses so far in November so be prepared for an up and down week if you do end up starting him. |
| San Jose Sharks | 1. Nabokov 2. Greiss |
@Nashville, PHiladelphia, @Anaheim | Safe to Start. Nabby has not had a regulation loss in his past 10 games. |
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