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Fantasy Hockey Goalie Waiver Wire: Into the fire for Varlamov

Semyon Varlamov #40 of the New York Islanders

Consider Semyon Varlamov in fantasy hockey leagues tonight. (Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images)

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* = confirmed

  • Stuart Skinner, EDM* at Linus Ullmark, OTT (7 p.m. ET)

  • Andrei Vasilevskiy, TB at Alex Nedeljkovic, PIT (7 p.m. ET)

  • Filip Gustavsson, MIN* at Jordan Binnington, STL (7 p.m. ET)

  • Sergei Bobrovsky, FLA at Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (7 p.m. ET)

  • John Gibson, ANA at Petr Mrazek, CHI (8:30 p.m. ET)

  • Semyon Varlamov, NYI at Dustin Wolf, CGY (9 p.m. ET)

  • Igor Shesterkin, NYR at Kevin Lankinen, VAN (10 p.m. ET)

Varlamov was in the starter’s crease during Monday’s skate which leads me to believe he will start against the Flames even though the Isles have had two days off and they’re not playing a back-to-back. Ilya Sorokin has lost three straight, including two in overtime, so I suspect they’re giving him a break.

This is the Isles’ fourth straight road game so fatigue will be a factor, but Varlamov has been quite good this season and excellent in his past three games, allowing just five goals. He’ll give the Isles a chance to win, and they’re due; the Isles have not beaten the Flames in regulation in their past six games since pre-COVID. My biggest concern isn’t necessarily the Flames offense, but the fact that Dustin Wolf is at the other end of the ice and could very well steal this game. At the worst, I think you’ll get a good save percentage from Varlamov.

Flip a coin, though I do think the Ducks are playing much better than the Hawks right now. The Ducks are playing the second half of a back-to-back with travel, and they’re really banged up right now missing several key players. But the Hawks have been unable to generate any kind of offense lately, and Gibson has looked quite good since recovering from appendicitis.

My worry is past history; Gibson has not been good at all against the Blackhawks, going 0-3-0 (!) with a .788 SP (!!) and 6.59 GAA (!!!) in those games. That’s really the only reason that gives me pause, but with…

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