The Goalie Report: Risers & Fallers

The thing about goaltending is you have to peak at the right time.

The playoff race in the East is heating up and the margin of error is tiny. Could Charlie Lindgren's excellent stretch of play, and also Alex Lyon and Samuel Ersson faltering for the Red Wings and Flyers, respectively, open the door for Lindgren's Capitals and the Islanders?

With just a month and roughly 15 games to go for each team in the regular season, it's the worst time to slump. Not to mention, the fantasy hockey playoffs are set to begin, and the last thing any manager needs is his No. 1, most reliable goalie option to implode, turning a first-place regular-season finish into an early first-round exit.

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Marc-Andre Fleury, Wild (Since March 1: 4-1-1, .936 Sv%, 1.64 GAA)

Somehow, already more than five months into his age-39 season, Fleury is playing his best hockey right now. Filip Gustavsson hasn't been bad, so it's more that Fleury's just been better. This is important because the Wild are trying desperately to make the playoffs, even pulling their goalie at even strength in 3-on-3 overtime to earn the extra point. (An empty-net goal allowed results in zero points for the loser).

This means the Wild will start whomever's playing the best, regardless of whose turn is it in the rotation. Remember, too, GM Bill Guerin trusts his former teammate immensely, and John Hynes has received a better overall performance from Fleury since his hiring. With a potential easy win in Anaheim coming up on Tuesday, and then a two-day break before hosting the Blues on Saturday, Fleury might just be the starter for the rest of the season.

Charlie Lindgren, Capitals (Since March 1: 5-2-0, .939 Sv%, 1.72 GAA)

Talk about a bounce back. After Lindgren was left in for all the goals in an 8-3 loss to close out February, he's been excellent since. It's no coincidence the Caps' recent surge and growing playoff hopes have come at the same time. Like all the other teams in the hunt, the Caps will be icing their best roster until they're eliminated, and right now that means starting Lindgren in net.

Darcy Kuemper hasn't played much during that time, but he's also been the inferior goalie all season. Unless Lindgren falters, Kuemper's going to spend a lot of time on the bench. Lindgren is rostered in less than half the leagues on Yahoo, by the way.

Dustin Wolf, Flames (Last week: 2-0-0, .957 Sv%, 1.29 GAA)

To be fair, nobody should be surprised. Wolf is one of the most decorated goalies you've never heard of, and it's literally because he's too small. Despite being a two-time winner of the WHL's best goaltender award and a World Juniors gold medalist, Wolf was drafted with the fourth-last pick in the 2019 draft, and since turning pro was named the AHL's best goaltender twice and the league MVP once.

The longer this continues, the more likely Wolf will keep starting, and there's no real hurry to rush back Jacob Markstrom. The Flames are still in playoff contention, mathematically speaking, but if their focus is on the future, Wolf will get a chance to really showcase what he can do. Even if his hot streak ends, he should maintain some value with the volume of starts.

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Alex Lyon, Red Wings (since March 1: 0-6-0, .859 Sv%, 5.15 GAA)

Here's what I wrote last week about Lyon: "… Lyon will still be their top option unless Reimer starts to outplay him, so Lyon retains some fantasy value as a volume starter. The quality, however, is anyone's guess at this point."

The quality, in fact, ended up being exceedingly poor. The Wings briefly fell out of their wild card spot, but with two teams within a point, they cannot afford to lose anymore ground. This has been an immense workload and pressure for Lyon, who was previously a journeyman backup, and his performances have become so erratic he can no longer be trusted at all in fantasy.

At least James Reimer's fantasy value has managed to increase, as he won his lone start in March against the Sabres and should start Tuesday against the Jackets. If that's a win, surely he'll get another start against the Islanders on Thursday, and it might just snowball until the Wings end up going with Reimer down the stretch. I never thought I'd ever think or even write this, but Ville Husso might be the solution here when he returns.

Jake Oettinger, Stars (Last week: 0-2-0, .800 Sv%, 5.91 GAA)

Things have been so bad for Oettinger that the Stars opted to start Scott Wedgewood instead against a conference rival. It made sense; Oettinger was pulled in his last start and allowed four goals in his previous game, but I thought the Stars would show a little more confidence in their franchise goalie.

With Wedgewood's win, the Stars might give him the reins a little bit as Oettinger resets. He has been inconsistent all season, and despite playing fewer games – a planned strategy after fatigue became a factor in the playoffs last season – he still doesn't look very sharp. If Wedgewood starts Wednesday against the Coyotes and wins, we might begin to see a lot more of him. He is worth a speculative add at this point, actually.

Samuel Ersson, Flyers (Since Jan. 1: 10-9-3, .894 Sv%, 2.76 GAA)

The low save percentage and acceptable GAA is a giveaway that Ersson hasn't been stopping the pucks; it's the Flyers who've been quite good at defending and blocking shots. Ersson has been a very serviceable goalie for them for most of the season, but his second half just hasn't been as good as the first, and they play four tough games this coming week, including a tough back-to-back at home against the Bruins and Panthers. With declining play and a tough schedule, all the risk is to the downside with Ersson.

Ilya Sorokin, Islanders (Last week: 0-3-0, .890 Sv%, 3.39 GAA)

Just when you thought the Isles and Sorokin were turning a corner, they lost four straight, including two shutout losses and an overtime loss to the Senators. (I'm not sure which hurts more). Sorokin's numbers have suffered yet again, and there are some tough matchups coming up with the Hurricanes and Jets, and they're in a weird schedule quirk right now where they alternate home and road games four times (and they'll do it again in April).

Sorokin will keep getting the starts, but unless you're looking for saves, it's come to the point where we question Sorokin's reliability again. Unlike Igor Shesterkin, who has really turned it around and has a very good team in front of him, Sorokin doesn't get the same kind of help. Sorokin remains a matchup-dependent goalie, as he has been for much of the season, rather than the previous must-start version.

Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic, Penguins (Since trade deadline: 1-3-1, .880 Sv%, 3.56 GAA)

As I wrote last week, it probably won't get any better for the Pens, and it's time to fade them both. Sidney Crosby remains a superhuman hockey player, but the rest of the team can't get to his level, and there's a staleness to their play that also resembles fatigue, complacency and boredom.

Maybe at some point the Pens put together a nice winning streak, but it'll likely be short-lived. Jarry's fantasy value at least still offers volume, but at this point he might be worth no more than a streamer.