This article is part of our The Goalie Report series.

Goalies Rising & Falling: Who's Dominating the NHL Crease This Week

Both sides of a goalie tandem excelled last week for one club, plus there are a couple of backups who are making a case for more starts with their respective teams. Other presumptive starters continue to show the path to success goes through them.

On the down side, a trio of No. 1s are struggling at the moment, which is hurting their teams' playoff chances.

Top NHL Goalies Gaining Momentum With Recent Performances

Joonas Korpisalo, Jeremy Swayman Boston Bruins

The Bruins are riding a four-win streak, during which they allowed a total of three goals against, with both Korpisalo and Swayman earning two wins and a shutout. A stout defense like this will keep the B's in the middle of a hotly contested playoff chase in the Eastern Conference. Boston is one of a handful of teams which has enjoyed significant success in using only two goalies to date. Swayman has had a nice rebound after a subpar 2024-25 season, while Korpisalo just put up his best work of the season last week and has accepted a larger share of the load lately.         

John Gibson Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings signed veteran Gibson to be the leader of their goalie contingent and stabilize that position, after cycling through four goalies last year, without much success. This season, Gibson has filled that key need and is enjoying his best campaign in several years, looming as a key cog in the Wings season-long challenge for a top rung in the Atlantic Division race. Over his three starts last week, he came away with three wins and allowed a total of only four goals against, while facing 81 shots (.953 save percentage). He's on pace to register a career-high in wins at his current pace.  

Karel Vejmelka Utah Mammoth

Vejmelka has endured the hard times when this team was floundering in Arizona, but he and the franchise have both turned a corner since the move to Utah. He has been a model of consistency with his impressive statistics (2.59 GAA, .900 save percentage) mirroring his totals from last season. The last week has been a high point for him, as he earned three wins and limited the damage to only four goals against, while turning aside 77 shots. His steady play, backed by an improved roster around him has him on pace for a personal best in the wins category, too.       

Logan Thompson Washington Capitals

Buoyed by the news that he's made the Canadian Olympic hockey team, Thompson has actually produced better stats (2.34 GAA, .916 save percentage) than last year and has taken on a much larger share of the workload in goal this season as opposed to an almost equal split with his partner, Charlie Lindgren, last year. This past week was another strong one for him as he claimed two victories over three starts, while giving up six goals out of 85 shots (.924 save percentage). As the Capitals offense is scoring at a lesser pace than last year, that's put more stress on the defense and goalies, making Thompson's efforts that much more impressive thus far.     

Juuse Saros Nashville Predators

Saros has long been regarded as one the NHL's top goalies, particularly for his ability to deliver in the face of a heavy workload. The Predators took a significant dip last season and got off to a poor start again this season. More recently, he has produced a nice streak of eight quality starts – including three last week – in his last nine assignments, to drag the Predators to the edge of a playoff spot in the Western Conference race. He's been the franchise MVP through much of his time in Nashville, and this season looks to be more of the same.        

Joel Hofer, St. Louis Blues

Hofer has actually outplayed Jordan Binnington, to earn an unprecedented share of goalie starts with the Blues this season. He added a pair of starts and earned his fourth shutout of the campaign last week and is fast approaching single-season career highs in game starts and wins, while putting pressure on Binnington for an even larger share of the remaining starts.

Bobrovsky, Andersen and Askarov Struggle to Steer Teams Away From Slump

Sergei Bobrovsky Florida Panthers

A lengthy injury list has really impacted the modest record of the Panthers so far this season. It has also put more pressure on this aging goalie, as he has been compelled to play a large share of games in this busy schedule to date. In the past week, we saw him extend a streak to nine straight games with individual-game save percentage totals of less than 90 percent. While there is no panic from the Panthers, it looks like they will be in an unprecedented dogfight to even qualify for a playoff spot in the East.

Frederik Andersen Carolina Hurricanes

Andersen is suffering through the worst statistical campaign of his 13-year career. Last week, he finally ended a career-high personal eight-game winless streak. He followed that up with another very bad start, allowing four goals out of only 18 shots. There have been too many of these poor starts on his ledger for this injury-prone asset who has not looked very healthy or confident this season.  

Yaroslav Askarov San Jose Sharks

Askarov was handed the keys to the Sharks crease this season, behind a roster that has plenty of talented young offensive pieces. Through the first half we have certainly seen a lot of ups and downs here for him and his team. Sadly, young teams have usually got a long learning curve when it comes to playing defense and keeping a lid on goals against. We've seen that as well here. Askarov has been shelled for 15 goals against out of 90 shots on goal (83.3 save percentage) in his last three starts. That's only a little worse than his totals for the season to date, indicating that there is some more runway to be traveled in terms of a learning curve for Askarov and the Sharks

Injury Updates Highlight Goalie Depth Concerns

Alex Lyon Buffalo Sabres

Lyon formed an effective partnership with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen through the first half-season, but he has been sidelined for the last six games as he nurses a lower-body injury. He should be back within a week and will likely resume a fairly equal share of goalie starts.

Mackenzie Blackwood Colorado Avalanche

Blackwood has missed the last six games with a lower-body injury. His fantasy owners should be quite happy to learn that he has just been activated and will return to play in the coming days.

Thatcher Demko Vancouver Canucks

Demko has to be terribly frustrated to see himself back on the injured reserve list with another lower-body injury. This continues a disturbing trend that began last season and points to a chronic scenario that is likely to continue to plague him for the foreseeable future.   

Carter Hart, Adin Hill Vegas Golden Knights

Hart has been sidelined with a lower-body injury that will keep him out of the Vegas lineup for several weeks. It comes at a time when Adin Hill, the preseason No.1 goalie here, is poised to return to the lineup from a leg injury that has sidelined him since October 20.

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