Coffee in the Crease: Jarry bouncing back?

Happy start to the week everyone! Like last season following American Thanksgiving the slate this week looks a little bit more “normal” instead of the 13 games, two game, 15 game, one game, rotation we were on. Let’s dive in!

Ilya Sorokin is good, get your free hot takes here

Ilya Sorokin has looked fantastic and those who roster him in fantasy are probably smiling like proud parents right now. Last week - three games, three wins and that includes a stellar 49, yes forty-nine, save shutout versus the Edmonton Oilers. The workload he has seen has not only been good for fantasy or DFS managers but has been keeping the Isles afloat. Just in the last week alone he has seen the most shots on goal in the entire NHL at 103, 3rd highest high danger shots against at 78, and over the entire month of November has the second highest goals saved above expected at 10.76. Sorokin has been busy turning away a high average shots per game and that really shows on the rebound attempts against where typically a team trapped in their own zone gets peppered with shots. Sorokin has 49 rebound attempts against in the last week, that’s good for the top spot.

This week the Isles schedule looks like this – Road Philly on Tues, then home Nashville on Friday and Chicago Sunday. I would imagine Sorokin starts both Tuesday and Friday and I don’t think I’m saying anything earth shattering here to recommend you start him in fantasy. In DFS it gets a little tricky correlating him with a defender, as Noah Dobson makes the most sense but is almost always overpriced. You can look towards maybe a cheaper option in Adam Pelech or Ryan Pulock, as both have decent peripherals and both play some special teams.

Jarry bouncing back?

Earlier this season I highlighted a few goaltenders that were off to very slow starts with Jarry being one of them and that was well founded. He opened the season with four straight wins on a Pens team that led the NHL in scoring but then regressed, losing his next five starts. The EKG up and down continues now with Jarry earning wins in his last four starts and has looked good in most of them.

During Jarry’s last start he carried a shutout into the middle part of the third period, but still well good enough to earn a win. I’ve sort of always felt that the Pens have looked for reasons to start Casey DeSmith in net to get into more of a tandem goaltending rhythm between both him and Jarry, but the two goaltenders' play has been on opposite ends of the spectrum recently. As Jarry has played exceptionally, DeSmith has struggled allowing three or more goals in his last three starts in net.

This week Jarry will have his hands full in net as the Pens welcome Carolina, Vegas, and St. Louis to PPG Paints Arena and my best guess here is that he will get the nod in all three of those games as they are Tues/Thurs/Sat contests. Also, if the Pens fans don’t call their rink the Paint Box or the Paint Can it’s just a missed opportunity.

Goalies to target this week
Brian Elliot, Tampa Bay Lightning (Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues, 11% Fantrax, 5% Yahoo) 5 starts, 4 wins, 1 OTL, 3.37 GA/G, .891 Sv%, 0 SO

Elliot’s last time out back on Nov 15th versus the Stars was an OT win that was very back and forth that sure isn’t nearly as close with Vasilevskiy in net, but that’s just what Elliot brings to the table on Tampa. A chance to get a win each time out just from the talent that’s in front of him for the Bolts. He has just been confirmed as the Bolts starter tonight versus the Sabres so if you need someone to start off the week as a lower rostered option in fantasy, he makes a decent amount of sense.

Kevin Lankinen, Nashville Predators (Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues, 18% Fantrax, 3% Yahoo) 5 starts, 2 wins, 0 OTL, 2.50 GA/G, .922 Sv%, 0 SO

If you’ve read me over at Dobber, you know that I’m a struggling Blackhawks fan and in my Hawks text thread (that we of course named Hawk Talk), Lankinen was given the nickname “Lanky” and Lanky he shall be. Lanky’s last start in net was on the 23rd against Detroit and he looked good but unfortunately the Preds couldn’t help him out offensively, as they fell 3-0.

I like Lanky going forward for a couple reasons. His high dangers numbers have been surprisingly good, and I say dsurprisingly because he is a goaltender that often losses his net, either going to retrieve a puck behind or in the corner and he often can’t get back in the crease in form in time for a rush. The other reason is schedule, both what we know is on the docket as well as future games. The Preds will play a back-to-back this week on the road in New York vs the Isles and New Jersey on Thurs/Fri so it’s likely Lanky gets one of those starts. The Preds also now have two games that were postponed last week versus Colorado and Columbus due to a water main break at Bridgestone Arena. If any of those games get rescheduled to a date that makes Nashville’s schedule a cluster, Lanky will be called upon to start between him and Juuse Saros.

For continued fantasy news and notes throughout the season, follow me on Twitter @ndySanz