Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Em ft. Dostal, Woll, Wolf, and More

Greetings and Happy Thanksgiving to our American hockey fanatics here with us! This is one of the incredibly rare Wednesday nights jammed with hockey action, featuring 15 games and 30 goaltenders. Ahh the decisions we must make with our rosters. Surely our starters will flounder and any players left on the bench will boast their season’s best- but not our goalies! That is what we are here for, after all. But before we get to the Start ‘Em, Sit ‘Ems, let’s take a moment to reflect on some goaltending situations to be grateful for:

Lets be grateful for Andrei Vasilevskiy’s relationship with coach Jon Cooper. No matter how bad things can look, he is the unquestioned starter. And that confidence has gotten the Russian keeper up to 9 wins, 2.30 GAA with .913 SV% and 1 shutout after dropping his first 5 contests, letting 17 goals go by him during that stretch.

Lets be grateful, too, for condensed scheduling due to the NHL’s participation in the winter olympics Milano Cortina 2026. Firstly, because NHL players in Olympics will be a thrill to watch, but secondly because of its influence on predictable goalie rotations!

Lets be grateful, finally, that we didn’t draft the Oilers tandem for our own fantasy teams! If my Fantasy team had Connor McDavid and Leon Draisatl for centers, but also Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard as goalies, it would have to be as bad as the Oilers are in real life.

That’s the gratitude, now let’s dive into it!

(Please note that the goalies listed are considered “probable” to start. Keep refreshing your Goalie Post app to see which goalies are “confirmed” starting. Don’t have the app? Get it for Apple or Android.)

START ‘EM

Lukas Dostal, Anaheim Ducks - Look out Western Conference, it’s American Thanksgiving and the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim are first in the Pacific Division and sitting comfortably in a playoff spot! The highly pedigreed ducklings have started growing up and they are learning how to win games. Especially at home, where the Ducks have gone 8-2 to start the season. Dostal should be the beneficiary of the home start against the sputtering Vancouver Canucks, who have lost 3 in a row and 7 of their last 10. The Czech net minder is off to a career year, sporting an 11-5-1 record alongside a 2.81 GAA and .904 SV% and we can expect Dostal to post similar numbers and a win on Wednesday night against the Canucks. Start ‘Em!

START ‘EM

Jacob Markstrom, New Jersey Devils - Another stellar home team, the Devils host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night at the Prudential Center, where they have picked up points in every single game so far, going 8-0-1 at home through the first couple of months of the season. Their Swedish keeper, Markstrom, has produced some underwhelming numbers for the season (3.75 GAA, .871 SV%), but he looks primed for his second win in a row against a Blues team that will be on the last leg of a 5 game road trip, in which they have lost 3 of 4, so far. Look for the Blues to drop this one, while Markstrom delivers a vintage performance. Start ‘Em!

SIT ‘EM

Dustin Wolf - After setting incredibly low expectations for the first 7-8 weeks of the season, the Flames are on a 3 game winning streak where they have scored 14 goals and allowed only 6 against. Good times! Unfortunately they are heading to Tampa Bay to face a Lightning team that has really turned it on lately, too, winning 4 in a row and scoring 5 goals twice in that span. The Calgary Flames don’t travel well (losers of 10 of 14 on the road) and they don’t offer a ton of goal support for their goalie (2.46 goals forced per game, 31st in NHL), so this matchup in Tampa is looking ugly for Wolf, who has turned in a solid, if unspectacular, sophomore campaign posting a 3.02 GAA with a .895 SV% and just 6 wins. With 30 goalies in action on the night, turn to another crease. Sit ‘Em!

SIT ‘EM
Joseph Woll, Toronto Maple Leafs - The Maple Leafs have lost 7 of their past 8 games, letting in 5 goals on 4 separate occasions in those losses. Yikes. After missing the start of the season for personal reasons, Joseph Woll has been steady in his 4 starts this year, producing a 1-2-1 record along with a 3.00 GAA and a .905 SV%. On Wednesday, Jo Woll will be between the pipes in Columbus to take on a Blue Jackets club that just defeated him 3-2 in Toronto last Thursday. Now they face off in Columbus where the Blue Jackets are 5-3-1 in front of the blasting cannons of Nationwide Arena. With the health of captain Auston Matthews still murky, the Maple Leafs may not be trusted in this one. Sit ‘Em!

DESPERATION MODE START

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabres - Luukkonen has been working his game back to form after missing the start of the season with a lower body injury. After winning his past two starts, he is up to a 3-2-1 record to go with his 2.68 GAA and .897 SV%. The Finnish twine tender will be up against a Pittsburgh Penguins club that has lost 2 in a row and 7 of their last 10. At 52% owned in Fantrax and 21% rostered in Yahoo, look for Luukkonen if you are chasing goalie stats on Wednesday. If you got to start someone then, Start ‘Em!

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading! My name is Garrett Finlay and you can follow me on X @garrett_fi51284 and on Bluesky @garrettfinlay.bsky.social where I am often talking goalies and fantasy hockey. I’ll be back here next Thursday to breakdown another busy night of twine tending action! Happy Hockeying and good luck out there!