Coffee in the Crease: Who to target for championship week

Welcome back everyone, and for this week we’ll call this one an Afternoon Cup of Joe! The time is finally here. It’s championship week for most leagues and it’s got to be now or never. Does your league have a trophy? Maybe something that travels from winner-to-winner? You could be just trying to avoid last place and that’s alright too. This week is all about highlighting some lower rostered goaltender here to add to your roster for some spot starts.

Now, if you’re reading this and you’re in the mix for a championship my guess is that you’re pretty set in net but if not, these names might be of help. Is it a bleak list? You be the judge here but let’s just say we got no favors from the schedule makers on who might be a lower rostered starter that can help this week.

Mads Sogaard, Ottawa Senators (Rostered in 2% of ESPN leagues, 30% Fantrax, 11% Yahoo) 13 starts, 6 wins, 2 OTL, 3.27 GA/G, .890 Sv%, 0 SO

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Cam Talbot is hurt but “close to being available to return”. Does he just leave a game but immediately tell the trainers and coaches he’s close to return regardless of whatever his injury is? With backup goaltender Anton Forsberg on IR it will be the Mads Sogaard show for the time being.

Sogaard stopped almost everything he saw in his last outing against the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 23rd, only allowing two goals on 29 shots. Prior to that there’s not a whole lot to highlight here as far as starts but bottom line here is that he is going to see time in net for an Ottawa team hanging onto their playoff hopes by the thinnest of margins. Sogaard has already been confirmed for tonight’s game at home against the Florida Panthers and I would guess will get the start on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Here’s the thing Ottawa fans and those like me who are rostering more Senators than thy probably should be. I don’t know when Talbot is coming back. You don’t know when Talbot is coming back. For all I know he makes a WWE entrance tonight and starts the second period tonight. We’ve all been burned by him unexpectedly drawing back into the lineup and I just want everyone to be ready for that to potentially happen.

Jake Allen, Montreal Canadiens (Rostered in 6% of ESPN leagues, 45% Fantrax, 21% Yahoo) 45 starts, 14 wins, 3 OTL, 3.57 GA/G, .891 Sv%, 1 SO

I want to go back to the days where I could write about Sam Montembeault and roster him for a week or so. Maybe sniff out a win here or there, see a good amount of shot volume, thank you for your service. Simpler times, January. For this week though it looks like Jake Allen will be our lower rostered Montreal goaltender.

I think for this we need to go with a “positive-negative-positive” approach for those out there in the mix for an Allen start. Positive – the schedule really does fit. Allen will likely start tonight on the road in Buffalo, then Thursday at home against the Panthers. Negative – He is 0-6-1 in his last seven games that he’s started and carrying a goals against average close to five in that stretch. Positive – what’s a few goals allowed between friends anyways?

I do at least think if you need someone in net for tonight though that Allen will be going up against a Buffalo team that may be without Tage Thompson and will be going with Eric Comrie in net. This is a winnable game for Montreal against a Sabres squad that’s not the best in terms of forward defense. I think that this could actually be a sneaky good spot to potentially walk away with a Montreal win.

John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks (Rostered in 51% of ESPN leagues, 67% Fantrax, 45% Yahoo) 49 starts, 14 wins, 8 OTL, 3.93 GA/G, .900 Sv%, 1 SO

I told you guys it was a bleak list. The nice perk here though is that we don’t have to speculate just who is in net for Anaheim as we actually got goaltending confirmation from the Ducks this morning. I’d have an easier time teaching my wife and I’s pet cat to point to where Anaheim is on a map than get goaltending confirmation from the Ducks. Maybe a bit of a weird analogy, but those that play DFS regularly will understand where I’m coming from.

I would only consider Gibson tonight when the Ducks take on the Colorado Avalanche, and I understand maybe the hesitancy, but he is probably available in your league and will definitely see plenty of volume. The Ducks lead the NHL in shots against with Gibson seeing 107 shots combined in his last three starts.

I know I mention eye test fair bit when I write but I do think that it matters. I can rattle off numbers and go back and look at past performance, and while that’s all valuable, I do think there’s merit in just watching the games and taking things away. With that, I’ve watched these two clubs play each other a fair amount the past two seasons and for whatever reason, Anaheim always plays them close. Colorado is absolutely in a smash spot so to speak against Gibson and the Ducks but just going off of what I’ve seen I think this one could be closer than how we all imagine it playing out. I may have just sealed the deal for a 4-0 Colorado route, but anything can happen.

Matt Murray, Toronto Maple Leafs (Rostered in 57% of ESPN leagues, 74% Fantrax, 52% Yahoo) 25 starts, 14 wins, 2 OTL, 2.97 GA/G, .905 Sv%, 1 SO

Okay now we’re getting somewhere. Matt Murray is the expected goaltender for Wednesday’s matchup at home against Florida and I think this could be an excellent addition for the week ahead.

The roster numbers might be a bit higher here but if he’s available he might be worth the Wednesday start. The main reason here being that Florida leads the NHL in times shorthanded which may just give the Toronto power play ample opportunities on the man advantage. Right now volume is great, but for championship week just having the benefit of points for a win might be the difference of going into the weekend up on points rather than searching for the next add/drop or claim that could save your season.
Murray’s last start out against the Carolina Hurricanes was a rough one but prior to that he had two wins with the most impressive being a 48 save outing against the Senators. Murray might just be a nice addition to help you this week.

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