Crashing the Crease: Backup Duty

We've officially hit the stretch run, with March right around the corner and 24 or fewer games left for everyone but the Hurricanes. Teams are still jockeying for position in the standings, but those at the very top have the luxury of providing their starting netminders a bit more rest down the stretch by giving their backups increased work. The cream of the crop consists of nine contenders, all of which sit at least nine points clear of the top non-playoff teams in their respective conferences. All nine have backup goaltenders more than capable of beating inferior opponents, but it's still useful to know just how much they can be trusted as the fantasy season winds down.

The Atlantic division consists of a bunched-up group of mediocre teams, but the Metropolitan's top four teams all sit comfortably in playoff position. While the four will continue to jostle for seeding, it's important to remember that the top Wild Card will actually have an easier path to the Conference finals than a third seed that has to stay in the Metropolitan bracket. The Capitals, Penguins, Blue Jackets and Rangers will therefore all be incentivized to throw their backups some bones.

Washington's dominance makes Philipp Grubauer a strong option every time he's called upon, as evidenced by the 25-year-old's 10-4-2 record, 1.98 GAA and .932 save percentage. He could get a significant workload should the Capitals wrap up the Presidents' Trophy with time to spare, especially if Braden Holtby's quest for a third consecutive 40-win campaign is already fulfilled by then (he currently sits at 29). Marc-Andre Fleury served as the starter in Pittsburgh for a long time, but has been usurped by youngster Matt Murray. While Murray's injuries have allowed Fleury to appear in 30 games, the veteran has an ugly 3.16 GAA and .906 save percentage. The Penguins' top-ranked offense puts them in good position to win every time out, but relying on Fleury to deliver in other areas will likely be a fool's errand. Joonas Korpisalo is currently staying sharp in the AHL during Columbus' week off, but the second-year netminder is expected to be back with the big club come Saturday. He has four wins in six appearances despite a 3.27 GAA, and the .920 save percentage he posted as a rookie shows the Finn's ceiling is higher than he has displayed this season. Antti Raanta has started just one of New York's past 10 games with Henrik Lundqvist finding his game again, but the former Blackhawks backup will likely see more work as the Rangers prepare the aging Swede for a deep playoff run. His 2.32 GAA and .920 save percentage suggest Raanta will be up to the task when called upon.

Minnesota and Chicago reign supreme in the Central. The Wild's Devan Dubnyk is putting up a Vezina-worthy campaign, but backup Darcy Kuemper has been a disappointment despite his 7-3-3 record. The 26-year-old's 3.10 GAA is the worst of his five-year career, and his workload is likely to stay largely unchanged as long as the Wild remain neck-and-neck with Washington for the Presidents' Trophy. Scott Darling has outplayed Corey Crawford all season with a 14-5-2 record, 2.19 GAA and .928 save percentage. He sees more usage than most backups, and is worth playing whenever he gets the call.

The Sharks, Oilers and Ducks don't have the dominant records of most of the aforementioned teams, but playing in a joke of a division has all three comfortably in playoff position. San Jose's Aaron Dell is putting together a fantastic rookie campaign with a 7-3-1 record, 1.95 GAA and .934 save percentage. He also has the clearest window to playing time down the stretch, with the Sharks currently on pace to secure the division with time to spare while not contending for home ice advantage in the Western Conference finals or Stanley Cup finals. It's important to note that his playing time hasn't seen much of a bump yet despite Martin Jones' recent struggles. Edmonton's Cam Talbot has started all but seven of his team's games, with his most recent absence coming Tuesday. Backup Laurent Brossoit likely won't see the volume necessary to hold much value with the Oilers battling Anaheim for home ice advantage in the first round. Jonathan Bernier of the Ducks has posted an underwhelming 2.93 GAA and .901 save percentage in 22 appearances, and his relatively frequent usage suggests starter John Gibson won't need any extra rest during the stretch run.

Many of the above backups could be helpful fantasy assets in the near future, but the guys below are making serious impacts right now with their recent success (or failures):

Top Performers

James Reimer, FLA - Reimer's past six appearances have resulted in five wins, a 1.44 GAA and .948 save percentage. He has started two of his team's past three games after notching a victory in relief of Roberto Luongo last Wednesday, and should continue to earn at least an even split of the playing time considering how vastly he has outperformed the 37-year-old veteran of late. Luongo looks to be in no position to force Reimer back into a backup role after winning just three of his past nine appearances while allowing 32 goals over that span.

John Gibson, ANA - Two of Gibson's past three starts have resulted in shutout victories, and he has allowed just three goals on 105 shots for a .971 save percentage in four appearances since Valentine's day. The American is 11-6-1 in 2017 after posting a 12-9-7 record in the 2016 portion of his fourth NHL campaign. Gibson's outstanding 2.24 GAA and .922 save percentage are right in line with his respective career marks of 2.23 and .921, so expect him to keep up the strong play down the stretch as the Ducks attempt to chase down San Jose for the Pacific Division crown.

Robin Lehner, BUF - Lehner makes this section even after allowing five goals to the Blackhawks in the second game of a back-to-back Sunday. In the three games prior to that loss, the Swede had gone undefeated while allowing just four total goals on 103 shots for a .961 save percentage. He has started seven consecutive games for the Sabres, and is tied for fourth in the league with a .925 save percentage. Unfortunately, that success has translated into just 17 wins over 42 starts for the backstop of a team that has allowed a league-high 34.2 shots on goal per game while scoring the sixth fewest goals at 2.43.

Three Rising

Petr Mrazek, DET - Mrazek's 2-1-0 record, 1.64 GAA and .944 save percentage in his last three games before Tuesday is made even more impressive when considering the competition. After taking a tough-luck loss against the 11th-ranked Blues offense, he bounced back with consecutive wins over the league's two most potent offenses: Washington and Pittsburgh. While he gave up three goals on 22 shots to the Islanders on Tuesday, Mrazek should continue to earn the majority of the work with Jimmy Howard still working his way back from a knee injury.

Carter Hutton, STL - Hutton has appeared in just two of his team's past eight games, but both of those starts resulted in shutout victories. While Jake Allen won four of the other six, he has dropped two in a row while allowing five goals to bottom-10 offenses in a pair of losses. Both goaltenders have played better since Mike Yeo took over the head coaching gig in St. Louis 10 games ago, but Allen's recent dip in production could mean more work for Hutton in the coming week. Another strong performance from the backup in his next opportunity would put him right back in the mix for a more even timeshare.

Cam Talbot, EDM - Talbot has bounced back nicely, following up a 1-4-0 stretch with three consecutive victories over the Coyotes, Flyers and Blackhawks. While he's not facing the stiffest competition, consistently beating whoever's placed in front of him has been key to the league's busiest netminder accruing 30 wins for the first time in his career. Talbot's Oilers have four games left on a road trip to close out February before opening March with an eight-game homestand.

Three Falling

Martin Jones, SJ - Jones has been a major disappointment over his past six starts, posting just one win while allowing 19 goals on 148 shots for an .872 save percentage. He still ranks fifth in wins and 10th in GAA, but this recent slide has dropped Jones' save percentage down to 25th in the league at .913. While Dell has been far superior in that regard with a .934 mark, he's still not much of a threat to Jones' playing time at the moment.

Thomas Greiss, NYI - Greiss has come crashing back down to earth in his last eight starts, allowing five opponents to score at least three goals after holding 12 of the previous 14 to two or fewer. He still has four wins over this eight-game sample, but has allowed 26 goals on 224 shots for an .884 save percentage. The poor defense in front of him is finally catching up to the German, and things aren't projected to get any easier with Tuesday's game marking the first leg of a nine-game road trip.

Andrei Vasilevskiy, TAM - It looked like Vasilevskiy was starting to turn things around following Ben Bishop's return, but a combination of poor play and bad luck has still limited the Russian to just one win in his past 11 starts. He's trending in the wrong direction once again performance-wise, having allowed two of his last three opponents to score four or more goals after limiting the previous four to two apiece. What started as a promising third professional campaign for the 22-year-old has fizzled into a serious struggle.