Risers and Fallers: Which NHL Goalies Are Powering Playoff Pushes & Crashing Under Pressure

Topping the charts this week are a couple of goalies who are determined to end playoff droughts for their teams. Tighter playoff races are placing a real premium on quality work from netminders, and a few other goalies are rising to that challenge.

Top NHL Goalies Rising in Performance This Week

Lukas Dostal, Anaheim Ducks

Dostal was the top goalie over the past week, winning all three of his starts, while stopping 92 of 98 shots he faced (.939 save percentage). That extended a personal consecutive win streak to a season-high six games. Dostal is on pace to set a personal best in game starts and is central to the Ducks' hopes to make the playoffs for the first time in eight years. Anaheim is currently third in the Pacific Division, which is a high-water mark since that last playoff appearance.      

John Gibson, Detroit Red Wings

Gibson has lived up to the billing as the missing ingredient to success for a Red Wing team that has missed the playoffs for nine straight seasons. Oddly, a lack of playoff participation has marked Gibson's career as well. He last appeared in the postseason in the 2018 playoffs with Anaheim. He recorded two wins and allowed only four goals against over three starts (.947 save percentage) last week and has 21 wins in 33 starts, for his best total over the past six seasons. He is also within striking range of his single-season career-high (31) during the 2017-18 season.     

Philipp Grubauer, Seattle Kraken

A couple of weeks ago, we made a case for Grubauer to garner a larger share of the Kraken net. Well, he's now started six of the last nine games, including three of four last week. He earned two wins with three quality starts, while limiting the damage to only five goals in the face of 75 shots (.933 save percentage). The Kraken are in a virtual tie for the final wildcard playoff spot in the Western Conference. As we would expect a premium on putting their best forward, given the high stakes, we should see Grubauer continuing to get the majority of game starts over Joey Daccord. The leash will be short, should he falter.          

Stuart Skinner, Pittsburgh Penguins

With two more wins, as part of the Pens' four-game sweep on a road trip last week, Skinner continued a stunning reversal of form, overcoming a poor start to the season, which led to a trade out of Edmonton. Skinner's fortunes did not change immediately after that deal, as he lost his first three starts with the Pens, but he's now won seven of his last eight starts, allowing three goals or fewer in each of those assignments. That consistent effort has propelled the Pens into second place in the Metropolitan Division.     

Daniil Tarasov, Florida Panthers

During the last off-season, the Panthers signed Tarasov as an unrestricted free agent, in a transaction that was not deemed too significant at the time. As he was expected to toil behind perennial workhorse Sergei Bobrovsky, the reaction seemed warranted. As the presumptive stater is now 37 years old, Tarasov was left to build his case within limited opportunities. He is padding that resume with two solid winning starts last week. He allowed a total of only two goals against out of 40 shots (95.0 save percentage). Suffice it to say that he's making a strong case for more work, as he has actually posted better numbers than 'goalie Bob' year-to-date (2.47 GAA, .909 save percentage)          

Jeremy Swayman, Boston Bruins

While retooling their roster on the fly this season, the Bruins remain in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race. They are also sporting a conference-best 8-1-1 record over their last 10 games. All of this is in large part due to the outstanding play of Swayman, who is finally looking comfortable with a heavier workload than he's ever handled over his career. He won both of his starts last week, while allowing only five goals out of 55 shots on goal (.909 save percentage).

Goalies Experiencing Declines

Sam Montembeault, Montreal Canadiens

While the Canadiens have been lifted by the play of a host of young skaters over the course of this season, a 5-4-1 mark over the past 10 is revealing some cracks. Most of the finger-pointing from their attentive fans and media have focussed their concern on the netminding of last year's top dog. He has fallen well short of his level from a year ago, adding to that concern with a pair of sub-par losing efforts, which saw him surrender seven goals out of 37 shots (.811 save percentage) last week. He is losing a grip on the top goalie role to Jakub Dobes.     

Adin Hill, Vegas Golden Knights

Hill returned from a long stint on the injury list on January 15. He began the season as the presumptive top goalie on the Vegas depth chart, so it's no surprise that they have given him four of the six game starts since his return. He gave up 10 goals out of 52 shots (.808 save percentage) last week. Akira Schmid, who failed to impress while Hill was out, has continued to be ordinary, and that likely means Hill will be expected to see the larger share of starting assignments in the hope that he regains top form.

Jordan Binnington, St Louis Blues

The former Stanley Cup champion, and Canada's winning goalie at last year's Four Nations tournament, is suffering through the worst NHL season of his nine-year career. He added two more unimpressive starts last week, allowing seven goals out of 43 shots (.837). In recent weeks, he's seen his workload shrink, as his partner, Joel Hofer, has actually outplayed him by a wide margin.

Key Injuries Altering NHL Goalie Depth Charts

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabres

He left Tuesday's game after allowing two goals on only five shots and 12 minutes played. Early indications are that he is dealing with some form of leg or groin injury, the severity of which is currently not known. Look for Alex Lyon to take the lead role, backed up by Colten Ellis, while UPL is unavailable.

Thatcher Demko, Vancouver Canucks

Demko was coming off an injury-riddled 2024-25 season where he was limited to only 23 appearances. He started this season in good health and was beginning to look like the dynamic goalie who was at the top of Vancouver's goalie depth chart for the past six seasons. Unfortunately, he is once again sidelined by a hip injury that will cause him to miss the remainder of the current season. Kevin Lankinen will step up to the top rung with Nikita Tolopilo backing him up the rest of the way.   

Dan Vladar, Philadelphia Flyers

Vladar has been activated from the injured reserve list and will return to the larger share of goalie starts in Philadelphia, ahead of Samuel Ersson and Aleksei Kolosov, who will return to the AHL.

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