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.
14 games on Saturday, Feb. 8
* - confirmed
Jake Allen, NJ at Sam Montembeault, MTL* (1 p.m. ET)
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB at Alex Lyon, DET* (1 p.m. ET)
Karel Vejmelka, UTA at Pyotr Kochetkov, CAR (1 p.m. ET)
Ilya Samsonov, VGK at Jeremy Swayman, BOS (3:30 p.m. ET)
Linus Ullmark, OTT at Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA (7 p.m. ET)
Joel Blomqvist, PIT at Samuel Ersson, PHI* (7 p.m. ET)
Jonathan Quick, NYR at Elvis Merzlikins, CBJ (7 p.m. ET)
Arvid Soderblom, CHI at Jordan Binnington, STL (7 p.m. ET)
Joseph Woll, TOR at Thatcher Demko, VAN (7 p.m. ET)
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, BUF at Justus Annunen, NSH (8 p.m. ET)
Jakub Skarek, NYI at Filip Gustavsson, MIN* (8 p.m. ET)
Joey Daccord, SEA at Dustin Wolf, CGY (10 p.m. ET)
Casey DeSmith, DAL at Alexandar Georgiev, SJ (10 p.m. ET)
Lukas Dostal, ANA at Darcy Kuemper, LA (10:30 p.m. ET)
Goalies
Casey DeSmith, DAL at SJ (8% rostered)
The Stars might be tired after playing the Kings on Friday, but DeSmith will be one of Saturday's most popular streaming options. The Stars should be considered the heavy favorite here for good reason, and they've won five straight matchups though three of them needed extra time. DeSmith has been one of the strongest backups this season with a .912 SP and eight wins in 14 starts.
DeSmith is one of the surer options on a night where there's plenty to choose from. Fatigue would be my biggest concern with the Stars, and their offense shouldn't be a problem even though they just scored one goal against the Ducks. Even their mediocre power play should be able to take advantage of one of the league's worst penalty kills.
Alex Lyon, DET vs. TB (10% rostered)
Tough matchup for Lyon but I like him as a streaming option for a few reasons. The Red Wings are on a seven-game winning streak with Lyon accounting for two of their past four wins, upsets seem to happen more during matinee games, the Lightning are on the road (11-13-2) and the Wings are coming off a three-day break. What I don't like is the prospect of facing the Lightning's offense, which scored nine goals in a two-game sweep against the red-hot Sens.
I'm willing to ride the hot streak here. Lyon's proven to be a very capable goalie and the Lightning are on the road where they've been very poor. I'm not sure if Lyon can limit the goals scored on him to three or fewer, but I do think he can provide a lot of saves, a good save percentage and a win.
Jonathan Quick, NYR at CBJ (9% rostered0
The Jackets offense just doesn't hit the same without Kirill Marchenko, and indeed they've lost three straight and scoring fewer goals than their season average (3.22 GF/GP). Quick has been quite dominant against the Jackets in his career with a 19-9-1 record and 2.44 GAA.
Though the Rangers are playing the second half of a back-to-back, I think they'll get back on track. Quick is a good streaming option if you're looking for a win.
Samuel Ersson, PHI vs. PIT (22% rostered)
Joel Blomqvist, PIT at PHI (1% rostered)
I'm definitely leaning towards Ersson on this one. I don't trust Blomqvist very much; his track record is short and the Pens are playing the second half of a back-to-back after a tough win against the Rangers. Ersson, on the other hand, has been playing really well but betrayed by his team's lack of scoring. I think the Pens are one of the few teams the Flyers can score goals against without much difficulty.
Given Ersson's recent strong play and facing a tired Pens team, he's one of the favored streaming options for Saturday. I think he will get a lot of saves, provide a good save percentage and also has a good chance of winning the matchup.
Jake Allen, NJ at MTL (35% rostered)
The Devils' lackluster play hasn't provided the lift for Allen's fantasy value that I thought it would following Jacob Markstrom's injury. They've just been too inconsistent, Allen has a .921 SP since taking over, but he's also 0-2-0 to start February with a .425 GAA and .896 SP. Regardless, I don't mind this matchup for Allen; he was victorious against the Habs earlier this season and the Habs have lost six of their past seven, including a loss to the Devils on Jan. 25 in overtime.
The Habs are tough to beat at home on Saturday nights, but they're trending the wrong way and I think the Devils are still the superior team. I don't expect a strong save percentage, but I do think Allen gets the win.
Karel Vejmelka, UTA at CAR (28% rostered)
Sometimes I like streaming underdog goalies against the Canes because it's a sure bet for a lot of saves. The return of Dylan Guenther has provided Utah with some clutch scoring, while the Canes have lost three straight and actually seen their offense dip after the acquisition of Mikko Rantanen.
I think this game should be closer than expected and there's definitely a chance of an upset. However, if you're streaming Vejmelka, you're really looking for saves. Everything else is a bonus.