On every game day this season, THN Fantasy will highlight players and goalies for fantasy managers to stream or roster for the rest of the season. The recommended players and goalies can be used in standard fantasy leagues or for daily fantasy games.
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7 games for Tuesday, Oct. 29
* = confirmed
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Samuel Ersson, PHI at Jeremy Swayman, BOS (7 p.m. ET)
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Philipp Grubauer, SEA at Sam Montembeault, MON (7 p.m. ET)
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Joel Hofer, STL at Linus Ullmark, OTT (7 p.m. ET)
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Lukas Dostal, ANA at Ilya Sorokin, NYI* (7 p.m. ET)
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Marc-Andre Fleury, MIN* at Joel Blomqvist, PIT (7 p.m. ET)
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Igor Shesterkin, NYR at Logan Thompson, WSH (7:30 p.m. ET)
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Darcy Kuemper, LA at Mackenzie Blackwood, SJ (10 p.m. ET)
Lukas Dostal, ANA at NYI (49% rostered)
That Dostal is rostered in nearly 50% of leagues even though the Ducks can’t/won’t win many games tells you how good he’s been. What you’re looking for with Dostal is a high number of saves and a very good percentage.
The bonus in this matchup is the Isles aren’t very good at scoring, ranking 28th in goals scored per game and power play efficiency, which gives the Ducks a chance to steal this game. Historically, however, the Ducks do not fare well in New York state. They haven’t beaten the Rangers on Broadway since 2013 and they’ve lost six straight against the Isles since 2022 with an average of 5.2 goals allowed per game.
Obviously, I think that number won’t be nearly as high with this season’s version of Dostal in net.
Philipp Grubauer, SEA at MON (10% rostered)
It’s a good sign Joey Daccord got two straight starts — he is definitely the better goalie — but with two straight losses, I think the Kraken go back to Grubauer.
I’m not fond of this start with the Kraken going 0-2-1 in their past three, and with the Habs winning two straight following a 0-3-1 streak where Martin St-Louis was grilled about some of his lineup decisions. The Habs are 3-2-1 against the Kraken all-time, including 1-1-1 in Montreal. Flip a coin for the result and it’s more likely than not that Grubauer posts a pedestrian save percentage around .900.
Joel Hofer, STL at OTT (17% rostered)
What scares me most is that the Sens offense is legitimately very good and they’ve scored at least four goals in four straight games. Given that the Blues are missing Robert Thomas, I’m wary of their ability to provide goal support for Hofer to earn the win if he’s not super sharp.
Hofer can put in some good performances but he’s also prone to some blowup starts dating back to the previous season. I’d be cautious about this start given the Sens are the favored team with home-ice advantage.
Marc-Andre Fleury, MIN at PIT (14% rostered)
It’s hard not to think Fleury will put forth a strong performance in what will very likely be his final appearance before the Penguins crowd. (In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the home crowd starts cheering for Fleury more than their own starter.)
He’s 5-4-0 with a .906 SP and 3.05 GAA against his former team, and I think we can expect something close to those numbers. Fleury’s no longer elite and his numbers have hovered around that range over the past few seasons.
What gives Fleury hope, however, is that the Wild’s offense has been excellent. The Pens are expected to stack their top line and they don’t have the requisite depth to match up to the Wild. I think this might end up being a high-scoring game and the Wild should pull ahead.
Joel Blomqvist, PIT vs. MIN (8% rostered)
After Blomqvist made 46 (!) saves against the Oilers and Alex Nedeljkovic lost in Vancouver on Saturday, I suspect Blomqvist will get the start here. The fantasy valuation of the Pens’ goalies has shifted entirely from “Which goalie will start and get the most wins?” to “Which goalie will make the most saves?” as the Pens go from playoff hopeful to a basement team.
I think Blomqvist will see a lot of pucks and stop a lot of them but feel very doubtful the Pens will be able to snap their losing streak.
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