Weekend Outlook: The final push to a championship

While most leagues have finished up their fantasy playoffs, there are still some out there that are playing through until the final horn. For this weekend, there’s some goaltenders that might be lower rostered or available in your league to give you a hand if you need it in net.

Alex Lyon, Florida Panthers (Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues, 17% Fantrax, 19% Yahoo) 11 starts, 8 wins, 1 OTL, 2.95 GA/G, .916 Sv%, 1 SO

Alex Lyon might singlehandedly get the Panthers into the Playoffs. In one night, this week Florida not only moved into the Wild Card, but all the way to the top spot booting the Pittsburgh Penguins out of the playoff picture. He has won his last five starts, earning a shutout in one of those outings and has yet to allow three goals in a game.

Florida has not only had a revolving door with injuries, but to go along with that is the most penalized team in the NHL. It’s hard to stay completive going down shorthanded multiple times in a game, but one of the ways you work through that is by getting stellar goaltending on special teams, which is what Lyon has provided the Panthers. Florida’s offense has been hit or miss the past two weeks but even with that in mind, I still think Lyon makes for a great addition coming into the final weekend of the season.

If there’s any hesitancy here it’s that Sergei Bobrovsky may still return this season as he has been out of the lineup with an illness since March 27th. As much as I’d hate to sit on an addition you’re thinking of making and potentially losing out to another member of your league, I think that might be the best course of action here. If Lyon is named the starter I’d add him as quickly as you could but I would wait on confirmation before making any moves.

Lukas Dostal, Anaheim Ducks (Rostered in 2% of ESPN leagues, 22% Fantrax, 4% Yahoo) 15 starts, 4 wins, 2 OTL, 3.77 GA/G, .901 Sv%, 0 SO

In a perfect world if I’m Anaheim I’m trying to close out the season with nothing but losses but that’s not to say that Lukas Dostal can’t give you a hand in net if you need one. With John Gibson listed as day-to-day, I’d imagine that Dostal will be named the starter at some point this weekend with the Ducks on a back-to-back. The problem though is as always, the Ducks are usually slow to get confirmation as to who is starting in net, and that’s assuming we get that information at morning skate at all. I’d assume here that if Dostal gets the nod in Arizona on Saturday than he would sit on Sunday against Colorado, and vice-versa.

The one thing that Dostal can help bring to your lineup if a win is possibly out of the equation here is volume. The Ducks allow the most shots on goal per game in the entire league with Dostal averaging around 30 so far this season. I think moving forward he might be what the Ducks need in net but it’s hard to tell with this team right now.

I talk about eye test a lot both here and over at DobberHockey and I think that just watching the games and taking things away really matters. With that said, I don’t care what the standings say, the Ducks have to be bottom of the barrel and I don’t think it’s as close at the standings might tell us it is. I can see a world where starting Dostal will be beneficial just off of his shot volume alone making him an option if you need one this weekend. I might stay away if you’re in a league that detracts points from goals allowed, but for ones that rely on saves he could be a name to keep in mind.

Felix Sandstrom, Philadelphia Flyers (Rostered in 1% of ESPN leagues, 8% Fantrax, 2% Yahoo) 16 starts, 2 wins, 2 OTL, 3.64 GA/G, .882 Sv%, 0 SO

Normally I don’t think I’d be doing much writing on our guy Felix Sandstrom here, but the NHL did us a favor and put Philadelphia on a back-to-back this weekend. There will be 16 games on Saturday but only two of them on Sunday, with one of them being the Flyers.

I could go into some previous games Sandstrom has started, perhaps even a fancy advanced stat, but going to be honest here, this is a schedule play. If you’re down going into Sunday, I think here’s your guy that will be available to play. Ringing endorsement I know, but sometimes fantasy hockey is just a matter of having more players in action on your roster than the person you’re facing.

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