Weekend Outlook: Navigating Sunday

Happy Friday everyone! It’s been a difficult week to navigate the goalie landscape following what was a, we’ll go with interesting, 10 game goaltending slate yesterday. There are a couple good spots to highlight going into this weekend, let’s dive in!

Casey DeSmith, Pittsburgh Penguins (Rostered in 3% of ESPN leagues, 26% Fantrax, 21% Yahoo) 13 starts, 4 wins, 2 OTL, 3.14 GA/G, .907Sv%, 0 SO

Along with the blog here at Goalie Post I write a weekly article at our sister site, DobberHockey, and I highlighted DeSmith as a must add for an immediate fix. When Tristan Jarry left Monday’s Winter Classic following the first period with a lower-body injury, the Pittsburgh Penguins brought in DeSmith, who I think is a more than adequate backup.

We know that Jarry did not travel with the organization for their two-game road trip this week so it looks as though DeSmith should be full-go for starts. I would imagine we see him start on Sunday versus the Arizona Coyotes, and while he might not see much volume in that matchup, he is well in line for a win versus an Arizona. This season DeSmith has a 4-7-1 record with 2.99 goals against average and a .911 save percentage and I’ve often thought the Penguins have wanted to use both him and Jarry more as a tandem. Following Pittsburgh’s Sunday matchup in Arizona they will be home on Tuesday January 10th to host the Vancouver Canucks where we will have to see if Jarry is healthy enough to start. For now, I think DeSmith makes the case for a good fix for the next few days.

Filip Gustavsson, Minnesota Wild (Rostered in 10% of ESPN leagues, 7% Fantrax, 39% Yahoo) 14 starts, 9 wins, 1 OTL, 2.25 GA/G, .924Sv%, 1 SO

Earlier this week Filip Gustavsson made a great addition to fantasy lineups, given how the Minnesota Wild’s schedule will play out this weekend. They took the ice on an “off” day on Wednesday night and have the luxury in fantasy of playing on both Saturday and Sunday. With Gustavsson getting the start on Wednesday we can assume that Marc-Andre Fleury will start on the busier Saturday slate, giving Gustavsson the net on Sunday.

Gustavsson did leave the Wild’s last game on Wednesday in the third period and will be listed a day-to-day in most leagues, but we learned following that it was an apparent stomach illness and not some sort of injury. Sure, anyone that leaves an NHL game is questionable to start in the next, but I think the three day’s rest that Gustavsson could see will more than help him get back to form.

Gustavsson has been stellar as of late, not only saving 34 of 35 shots on Wednesday but going back to the previous nine starts he has won eight of them. He makes a great addition to any fantasy lineup in need of a starting goaltender this weekend and for DFS makes a good play that can be paired with the Wild’s first or second lines.

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