NHL Fantasy Hockey Waiver Wire Goalie Pickups and Expected Starters April 1 - Caps' Lindgren, Panthers' Vanecek Among Backups Potentially in Action

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 are rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues and can be selected in standard fantasy leagues or for daily fantasy games.

10 games on Tuesday, April 1

* = confirmed

Charlie Lindgren, WSH at Jeremy Swayman, BOS (7 p.m. ET)

Vitek Vanecek, FLA at Sam Montembeault, MTL (7 p.m. ET)

James Reimer, BUF at Linus Ullmark, OTT (7 p.m. ET)

Juuse Saros, NSH at Elvis Merzlikins, CBJ (7 p.m. ET)

Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB at Ilya Sorokin, NYI (7:30 p.m. ET)

Cam Talbot, DET at Jordan Binnington, STL (8 p.m. ET)

Dustin Wolf, CGY at Karel Vejmelka, UTA (9 p.m. ET)

Calvin Pickard, EDM at Adin Hill, VGK (10 p.m. ET)

Alexandar Georgiev, SJ at Lukas Dostal, ANA (10 p.m. ET)

Connor Hellebuyck, WPG at Darcy Kuemper, LA (10:30 p.m. ET)

Goalies

Charlie Lindgren, WSH at BOS (29% rostered)

The Caps are slumping with three straight losses but I wouldn’t be too worried. The Bruins have effectively been the worst team in the league with eight straight losses, and they can’t score. Lindgren’s save percentage (.897) isn’t eye-catching, but his 2.65 GAA is among the league’s lowest.

Lindgren should be one of Tuesday’s top streaming options. It’s reasonable to expect a win with very few goals against. My only worry is the Caps overlooking this game and focusing on Wednesday’s divisional clash with the Canes instead, opening the door for the Bruins to take advantage of them, however slight that chance may be.

Vitek Vanecek, FLA at MTL (6% rostered)

It’s a revenge game for the Panthers and tensions are running high after the two teams ended their previous game on Saturday in a scrum. Don’t rule out Sergei Bobrovsky getting the start again, leaving Vanecek for Wednesday in Toronto, but I like the Panthers’ chances in this game. The Panthers have not lost in consecutive games with at least one day’s rest since Jan. 11-13.

I don’t think Vanecek has been particularly good and his performances are volatile, but I do like Vanecek if you’re looking for a win.

Lukas Dostal, ANA vs. SJ (40% rostered)

Either Dostal or John Gibson should be a good matchup. The Sharks have lost two straight with 14 goals allowed and expected to start Alexandar Georgiev, who has a .874 SP and 3.84 GAA with the Sharks. Though the Ducks are coming off a 3-2 loss to the Rangers, they nearly made a comeback that would’ve extended their winning streak to three games. Dostal’s play in March has dipped but he should still be fine, and the Ducks’ goal support should also be dependable enough, for them to win.

Dostal likely won’t rack up the saves since the Sharks routinely get outshot. He should, however, earn the win with relative ease.

James Reimer, BUF at OTT (4% rostered)

With four straight wins and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen losing 7-4 to the Flyers, we might see Reimer again before the Sabres play a back-to-back on April 5-6. Over the past week, the Sabres have essentially made Reimer their starter. He’s been decent – better than Luukkonen, at least – but he’s also getting bailed out by the Sabres’ offense.

This is going to be a close matchup that will likely feature a lot of goals. I’d probably stay away if you’re looking to preserve a good save percentage or a low goals against, and note the Sabres rank ninth in GF/GP at home but slightly worse at 11th on the road. The Sens are 21-10-2 at home and should be motivated to avoid a season sweep by the Sabres this season, who are 3-0-0 against the Sens.

Cam Talbot, DET at STL (36% rostered)

Talbot likely gets his second straight start with Petr Mrazek still on the mend. This will be a much tougher test than his previous game against the Bruins, and the question is more about when the Blues’ hot streak will end rather than if the Wings have enough to stop them. Talbot allowed three goals on 20 shots (.850 SP) in a 4-0 loss on Dec. 23 and has not fared very well against them throughout his career (8-10-6, .895 SP, 3.11 GAA).

The Wings are not strong on the road (15-17-3) and the Blues are on a roll. Talbot has been fine this season but you wonder which version of him you’ll get, and also if the Wings can provide enough goal support to pull off the win. I’m quite doubtful.  

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