Trending Up
Robin Lehner, Golden Knights (since Dec. 1: 9-4-1, .903 Sv%, 2.60 GAA)
Maybe it just took a little longer for Lehner to adjust to being Vegas' only starter since the departure of Marc-Andre Fleury, but the last two months he's improved significantly. From the start of the season until the end of November, Lehner was 9-8-0 with a pedestrian .913 Sv%, but the most glaring number was his -4.52 5v5 GSAA, which ranked 73rd of 79 goalies, according to naturalstattrick.com. From Dec. 1 and entering Tuesday's game against the Sabres (another win, of course), Lehner's 5v5 GSAA has improved to -0.37, ranking 55th of 101 goalies. There's still a long way to go before Lehner returns to his Vezina-worthy form, but his play is trending up and with Max Pacioretty back in the lineup and Alec Martinez's return coming sooner than later, Lehner is moving back toward must-start status once again.
Matt Murray, Senators (January totals: 4-1-2, .924 Sv%, 2.51 GAA)
When I wrote two weeks ago that Murray's been playing a lot better since his call-up and was a potential add for risk-taking managers to start against the Sabres on Jan. 25 and Oilers on Jan. 31, I did not expect a 32-save shutout and a 37-save win. It was a surprising, better-than-expected result, like if owner Eugene Melnyk managed to turn a profit on the Sens at the end of the season. Murray's playing like he's got something to prove, and the
Trending Up
Robin Lehner, Golden Knights (since Dec. 1: 9-4-1, .903 Sv%, 2.60 GAA)
Maybe it just took a little longer for Lehner to adjust to being Vegas' only starter since the departure of Marc-Andre Fleury, but the last two months he's improved significantly. From the start of the season until the end of November, Lehner was 9-8-0 with a pedestrian .913 Sv%, but the most glaring number was his -4.52 5v5 GSAA, which ranked 73rd of 79 goalies, according to naturalstattrick.com. From Dec. 1 and entering Tuesday's game against the Sabres (another win, of course), Lehner's 5v5 GSAA has improved to -0.37, ranking 55th of 101 goalies. There's still a long way to go before Lehner returns to his Vezina-worthy form, but his play is trending up and with Max Pacioretty back in the lineup and Alec Martinez's return coming sooner than later, Lehner is moving back toward must-start status once again.
Matt Murray, Senators (January totals: 4-1-2, .924 Sv%, 2.51 GAA)
When I wrote two weeks ago that Murray's been playing a lot better since his call-up and was a potential add for risk-taking managers to start against the Sabres on Jan. 25 and Oilers on Jan. 31, I did not expect a 32-save shutout and a 37-save win. It was a surprising, better-than-expected result, like if owner Eugene Melnyk managed to turn a profit on the Sens at the end of the season. Murray's playing like he's got something to prove, and the timing is pretty good because Ottawa can play the spoiler next week against some tough teams, and he'll see plenty of action since the Sens play a league-high seven games in these two weeks.
Pavel Francouz, Avalanche (7-1-0, .927 Sv%, 2.29 GAA)
Francouz has been so good he forced a timeshare with Kuemper, and up until Tuesday's game against the Coyotes, the two had split the starts for almost two weeks. The Avs may have started Kuemper because the Avs have an eight-day break until the next game until Feb. 10, and they figure they should try to keep him as fresh as they can. Note the Avs have two back-to-backs on Feb. 15-16 and Feb. 25-26, but it does certainly seem like Francouz is well worth rostering at the moment playing behind arguably the best team in the league.
Honorable Mention: John Gibson, Ducks; Frederik Andersen, Hurricanes; Darcy Kuemper, Avalanche; Jake Oettinger, Stars; Cam Talbot and Kaapo Kahkonen, Wild; Juuse Saros, Predators; Igor Shesterkin, Rangers; James Reimer, Sharks; Ilya Samsonov and Vitek Vanecek, Capitals
Trending Down
Jacob Markstrom, Flames (16-10-5, .923 Sv%, 2.20 GAA)
Markstrom earned two more shutout wins in his last three games, giving him a career high and season-leading seven this season. Maybe this is just nitpicking, but it's important to note that stat is somewhat misleading. When the Flames are playing well — as they are now — their forecheck prevents the opposition from creating any scoring chances, and note four of Markström's shutouts were earned when the Flames kept their opponents to 25 shots or fewer; it's happened only 28 times this season, and only four other goalies (Jarry, Shesterkin, Campbell, Samsonov) have managed to do it more than once. It's masked just how mediocre Markstrom's been in January, as he has a .896 Sv% excluding the shutout wins. The Flames face Vegas and Toronto next week, which will good matchups for Markström to see where his game is really at.
Tristan Jarry, Penguins (Past 3 starts: 0-1-2, .899 Sv%, 3.24 GAA)
Jarry was on his way to having a Vezina-worthy season, but even though he's 13-4-2 since Dec. 1, the performances have not been particularly convincing, ranking 57th in 5v5 GSAA, according to naturalstattrick.com. He finished January with eight wins, one more than his second-best month in November, but also note that for the second straight month, Jarry finished with a lower save percentage (.907) and higher goals-against average (2.78). He lost his third consecutive game Tuesday against the Caps in a game the Pens definitely should've won. The Pens are still a very good team, but they need to get more capable defenseman and figure out their middle-six if they want to provide Jarry with some help and stay at the top. Perhaps this is a regression to the mean for a goalie many assumed would be the Pens' weakest point going into the season? His status as a top-5 fantasy goalie is slipping, and perhaps it's not a bad time to gauge what managers can get for him just in case Jarry keeps regressing.
Connor Hellebuyck, Jets (14-15-6, .910 Sv%, 2.90 GAA)
Hellebuyck makes the naughty list for the second week in a row because, well, are we even sure the Jets are a good team anymore? The Flyers (!) handed the Jets their seventh loss in eight games, and Hellebucyk is now one game under .500 for the season. It wasn't a good follow-up after snapping a six-game losing streak against the division rival Blues on Saturday, and though not all of the Jets' woes should be blamed on goaltending, their decline this season is a little alarming. After finishing top-5 in Vezina voting the last two seasons, it does not look like Hellebuyck will make it a third consecutive time. His real fantasy value remains in his workload, where he ranks third in the league in saves, but there just isn't much in terms of quality; even a goalie on a timeshare but playing behind a better team might have more fantasy value.
Dishonorable Mention: Karel Vejmelka, Coyotes; Braden Holtby, Stars; Alex Nedeljkovic, Red Wings; Cayden Primeau and Samuel Montembeault, Canadiens
