The Goalie Report: Risers and Fallers

In this week's column, we'll take a look at goalie performances over the past couple of weeks, highlighting some goalies who are playing a key role in their team's success over that period, while a few more who are at least solving team deficiencies. Others have faltered and are highlighted for their substandard play. There were also a pair of trades that involved a goalie, and we'll examine the impact of those deals

Trade Impact

Spencer Knight moved from a backup role with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Florida Panthers, to the front of the line in Chicago. Knight should be happy to play more in a rebuilding environment. He recorded a 41-save win in his debut with the 'Hawks. The Panthers moved quickly to fill their vacant backup role, securing the services of Vitek Vanecek from the San Jose Sharks. 

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Ilya Sorokin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Connor Hellebuyck were once again fixtures among the risers last week. No real news here. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Others making a positive impact at this critical time include:

Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers

Bobrovsky is giving the Panthers another stellar campaign in his age-36 campaign. Team management is so confident in his ability and durability this season that they didn't blink when the cost to acquire Seth Jones included their young and talented backup goalie Spencer Knight. The Panthers are clearly all-in with their focus on defending their Stanley Cup title. 

Filip Gustavsson, Wild

The Wild is leaning on their top goalie in a big way as they try to hang to a playoff spot in the competitive Central Division. Gustavsson has served up five quality starts over of his last seven appearances. He'll likely face a similar workload over the remainder of the regular season, as long as every game matters for the Wild. It's quite the compliment to him, because the other contenders in this division have deeper rosters than Minnesota. He's been their MVP this season, with a sparkling 2.62 GAA and .914 save percentage. 

Linus Ullmark, Senators

Similar to the Minnesota, Ullmark has to come up big over the remaining schedule if Ottawa expects to qualify for the post-season. However, his play has been uneven as times, as shown by the 16 goals he's allowed over his last four appearances. Injuries have limited his participation to only 29 of the Senators 60 games played. With 22 games remaining, he should expect to play at least 15 of those contests. That sounds like a tall order, given that he hasn't been able to stay healthy through his first season in Ottawa.   

Jake Oettinger, Stars

Oettinger has put together another great season for Dallas, as he ranks among the league leaders with a 2.44 GAA and .911 save percentage through 44 appearances. The Stars have the luxury of some breathing room in the standings, unlike a lot of other team in the playoff hunt. Oettinger is one of the most durable and busiest goalies over the past few seasons, so they ought to be able to spare him from a heavier workload down the stretch.

Alexandar Georgiev, Sharks

Georgiev helped the Sharks navigate through a Canadian road swing last week, where he earned two wins and an overtime loss in his three starts, while allowing eight goals against out of 82 shots directed at him. Georgiev has accepted a heavy workload for a young Sharks team that is in rebuild mode. Team management has to feel good about identifying him as the top goalie option here. He's completing his ninth season in the NHL and is emerging as a team leader on a club that has some of the league's best young talent earning their stripes this season.  

Frederik Andersen / Pyotr Kochetkov, Hurricanes

The Hurricanes are a deep and talented team at forward and on defense. The team has once again been the stingiest in allowing only 24.9 shots on goal per game this season. Both goalies have solid-looking numbers (Kochetkov -- 2.49 GAA; .902 SV%, Andersen -- 2.18 GAA, .911 SV%) this season. Unfortunately, Andersen has suffered through another injury-plagued campaign, which has limited him to only 12 appearances, while Kochetkov has 37 to his credit. As they're both healthy now, it's quite likely that they will split the final twenty game starts on the remaining schedule with little stress as they appear to be in a safe playoff-qualifying position. Unlike most other team's we are likely to see a goalie share in their playoff schedule.    

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Stuart Skinner, Oilers 

He repeats down here, since our last report, and that's becoming a real distraction for a team that's still ranking among the betting favorites for the Stanley Cup. The club has sprinkled in more Calvin Pickard starts recently, but he's never been more than a career backup. They have to be concerned when you consider Stuart Skinner has allowed 13 goals against over his last three starts, while Pickard has only one quality start and allowed 11 goals against over his last three appearances.  

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Sabres

A palpable level of frustration has taken hold in Buffalo recently, which is plainly visible in recent postgame interviews. For his part, Luukkonen is going to complete his third full season as the top goalie option for a Sabres club that has yet to make the postseason in his tenure. His stats are pedestrian (3.06 GAA, .89S SV%) but it's hard to know whether most of the blame belongs to him or an unsteady defensive structure. 

Cam Talbot, Red Wings 

Detroit can't afford to be represented in this half of our weekly analysis too many more times as the Wings are in the thick of the wild-card hunt. In the second half of their schedule, the Red Wings have been giving Talbot the heavier workload and he's responded with a 6-3-1 record. At press time, they are right on the cusp of playoff qualification, which would snap a lengthy run of team failure. He's likely got to be even better over the duration of the schedule than his season-to-date totals (2.92 GAA, .902 SV%) if fans expect to see playoff hockey in Motor City.

Kevin Lankinen, Canucks

Thatcher Demko is going back to the IR and that's put the pressure back on Lankinen. It comes at a time when the Canucks sit just outside a playoff spot and have a major concern elsewhere on their roster, which is taking up lots of oxygen (the Elias Pettersson saga). Lankinen has actually outperformed Demko when you compare their season totals, but that's not what was expected here, for a Canucks team that finished first in the Pacific Division last season.  Lankinen and his mates face an uphill climb to just qualify for a playoff spot this time around and that's been a clear disappointment.