The Capitals' season and Alex Ovechkin's chase for Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record officially begins. Charlie Lindgren will be between the pipes to start the season.
On every game day this season, THN Fantasy be highlighting goalies for fantasy managers to stream or roster for the rest of the season. A separate article will be provided for players. The recommended players and goalies can be used in standard fantasy leagues or for daily fantasy games.
Games for Saturday, Oct. 12
* = confirmed
Darcy Kuemper, LA* at Jeremy Swayman, BOS* (1 p.m. ET)
Spencer Knight, FLA* at Devon Levi, BUF* (7 p.m. ET)
Joel Blomqvist, PIT* at Anthony Stolarz, TOR* (7 p.m. ET)
Linus Ullmark, OTT* at Samuel Montembeault, MON* (7 p.m. ET)
Juuse Saros, NSH* at Cam Talbot, DET* (7 p.m. ET)
Connor Ingram, UTA* at Igor Shesterkin, NYR* (7 p.m. ET)
Jacob Markstrom, NJ* at Charlie Lindgren, WSH* (7 p.m. ET)
Semyon Varlamov, NYI* at Jake Oettinger, DAL* (8 p.m. ET)
Joey Daccord, SEA* at Marc-Andre Fleury, MIN* (8 p.m. ET)
Daniil Tarasov, CLB* at Alexandar Georgiev, COL* (9 p.m. ET)
Ivan Fedotov, PHI at Dustin Wolf, CGY* (10 p.m. ET)
Petr Mrazek, CHI at Calvin Pickard, EDM* (10 p.m. ET)
Lukas Dostal, ANA* at Vitek Vanecek, SJ* (10 p.m. ET)
Pyotr Kochetkov, CAR at Jonas Johansson, TB (postponed)
Goalies
Samuel Montembeault, MON vs. OTT (47% rostered)
Montembeault was brilliant in the season opener with a 48-save shutout against the Leafs. Both the Habs and Sens' goaltending were big issues last season but so far that has not been the case, and it might end up being a goalie duel.
Regardless, Montembeault is quickly getting a lot of attention in fantasy following a standout performance. It remains to be seen how competitive the Habs will be this season, but at the very least it looks like Montembeault has a very firm hold of the No. 1 job and will surely rack up the saves on a nightly basis.
Charlie LindgrenCharlie Lindgren, WSH vs. NJ (41% rostered)
Lindgren was arguably the biggest reason the Caps made the playoffs last season and Logan Thompson missed the last few days of practice due to personal reasons, so it makes sense Lindgren gets the nod.
A rotation is expected but we don't know what that rotation will look like this early in the season. This is a difficult matchup for the Caps, however, though they've bolstered their defense with Matt Roy and Jakob Chychrun. I'd be cautious about this start, but a strong performance will pay off for managers who have rostered Lindgren because it means he'll have the inside track on getting the bulk of the starts.
Marc-Andre Fleury, MIN vs. SEA (19% rostered)
Fleury's retirement tour begins but this shouldn't be viewed as a pity start. Fleury still has some good hockey left in him, and despite some optimism coming into the season for the Kraken, they scored just two goals in their season opener against the Blues in a loss. Their offense continues to be underwhelming; meanwhile, the Wild received strong performances from all their top players in a 3-2 win against the Jackets in their season opener. Fleury has been excellent against the Kraken in his career: 5-2-1, .930 SP and 2.11 GAA.
Calvin Pickard, EDM vs. CHI (11% rostered)
Pickard gets the start which means Stuart Skinner draws the Flames on Sunday in the Oilers' back-to-back. Pickard was excellent last season and the Oilers have the definitive edge in this matchup between Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard.
Devon Levi, BUF vs. FLA (10% rostered)
Another strong start from Levi and he might push for the starting job. The Panthers will be without top center and captain Aleksander Barkov, and Levi is coming off a strong 34-save performance against the Devils.
Lukas Dostal, ANA at SJ (8% rostered)
Dostal is slated to start the Ducks' season opener and it's a good matchup against the Sharks, who blew a 4-1 lead going into the third period in their season opener on Thursday. The Ducks have dominated this matchup in recent seasons, having lost just three times in their past 15 matchups.
I like this start for Dostal, even with an improved Sharks offense featuring Macklin Celebrini, who scored two points in his NHL debut.
Dan Vladar, CGY vs. PHI (4% rostered)
Either Vladar or Dustin Wolf could be worth streaming in this start. The Flyers are playing the second half of a back-to-back with travel, and while Vladar wasn't particularly sharp in their season opener, he held on in a comeback win, 6-5 in overtime, against the Canucks.
Wolf scares me a little more because he was underwhelming during camp and the pre-season, but whoever draws this start gets the better deal because the Flames travel to Edmonton to face the Oilers on Sunday. This is clearly the more desirable matchup.
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