Hello and welcome back to Geek of the Week! In this week's article, I am going to help you plan for your upcoming fantasy playoff matchups, which may be the finals for some, and semi-finals for others. This is where league winners are born. The hardest position in fantasy hockey is the goaltender. You think you may have a star on your team, but then they go on a terrible stretch and absolutely sewer your team. In multicategory leagues, this is extremely frustrating as you can suddenly have no chance at winning two to four categories.

If this is your fantasy finals, you should have no issues cutting a star goaltender if he is struggling and the matchups seem terrible (unless it is a keeper of course). We'll be looking at potential matchups this upcoming week and seeing which goalies to target based on those matchups and based on their Quality Start (QS) and Really Bad Start (RBS) stats.

These two stats are very valuable for our multicat leagues. It turns each goalie's start into a categorical variable (yes/no). In our head-to-head multicat leagues, we want our goalies to do their job and come up with a strong performance. With only three to six goalie starts per fantasy team, it doesn't matter much if they absolutely crush it with 3 Ws and a .987 SV%, or if they are just serviceable with a .925 SV%. Both are great for your fantasy team that week. Both are Quality Starts. With the small amount of goalie starts in a week, the RBSs hurt you greatly. We want to avoid those.

Here are some targets for this upcoming week:

Philipp Grubauer – QS – 36.7%, RBS – 13.3%

This stream is entirely dependent on Grubauer getting the start on Monday against the Sharks. If so, he likely also gets the Ducks on Friday as Seattle has been alternating starts. These are mouth-watering matchups. If Daccord gets the start on Monday, ignore this advice. Grubauer has not had much success over the season and his low QS% shows this. Grubauer does however have a respectable RBS% at only 13.3%. This is in the average range. This stream is entirely based on the matchups. San Jose is averaging 2.22 Goals per game, worst in the league, while Anaheim is averaging 2.42. I would bet my fantasy season on Grubauer to come out on top in these matchups.

If Daccord gets the start on Monday and he is available, grab him instead. This would be the better play as Daccord has a much better QS% (63.8%).

Semyon Varlamov – QS – 52.2%, RBS – 4.8%

With Ilya Sorokin struggling, Varlamov earned 2 straight starts this past week and looked good, even in a 4-1 loss to Tampa Bay, posting 36 out of 39 saves. Varlamov only has 1 Really Bad Start all season, leading me to trust him with a stream. As the Islanders did lose this past Saturday, I expect them to go back to Sorokin for their matchup against the Flyers on Monday, but then they have a back-to-back against the Blackhawks on Tuesday, which Varlamov should get right back in for. The Blackhawks are tied for dead last in Goals For this season, a great opponent for a stream.

If Varlamov gets the start on Monday against the Flyers, who are 24^th in Goals For, this is a great matchup as well. If Sorokin struggles in one of these two games, Varlamov could find himself with another start against the Blue Jackets on Thursday, a team that is 25^th in goals for. Varlamov could put you in a great spot to start your week. You can then hold on hoping for one more start, or drop him for another streamer, possibly the Goalie mentioned next.

David Rittich – QS – 55.5%, RBS – 4.5%

Cam Talbot has taken back his starting role in Los Angeles. But there is a juicy matchup that Rittich should get the start for this coming week. A second half of a back-to-back on Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. With Rittich having only 1 RBS all season, I would trust him in this matchup. Again, the Sharks are tied for dead last in Goals For. What more can you ask for in a goalie stream? I will likely be grabbing Varlamov for an early start, then dropping him for Rittich.

Star Goalies You Shouldn't Trust

Some of these goalies have been amazing for your fantasy teams this season, but this week and next is where our season is won or lost. If you aren't comfortable starting a goalie, you should probably drop them. You can win your fantasy season by streaming goalies.

Stuart Skinner – QS – 58.5%, RBS – 20.8%

Out of all goalies with 40+ starts, Skinner is second worst in RBS%. 1 in 5 of his starts tank your fantasy week. The Oilers have a nice matchup on Monday against the Blues that Skinner should get the start in, but then they have the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche, two offensive power houses. I would be too scared of a RBS occurring in at least one of these matchups. I'd consider starting Skinner on Monday, then dropping him for a streamer.

Jeremy Swayman – QS – 58.5%, RBS – 12.2%

The Bruins have been alternating starts of late between Swayman and Linus Ullmark. If that trend continues, Swayman will only get one start this week, and that start is against the Carolina Hurricanes, a team averaging 3.4 Goals For per game over their past 10 games, with a few six and seven goal outbursts. Swayman's RBS% is only average compared to other star goalies. If this is the only matchup to make or break Jeremy Swayman's fantasy week, I would choose to move on. If the Bruins decide to give Swayman an extra start, that start is either against the red-hot Predators or another offensive powerhouse in the Florida Panthers. It can be very tough letting go of a star goalie that has been so good for you all season, but if that one start against the Hurricanes is not a QS, you'll have to scramble and stream goalies anyways. May as well get ahead and start streaming early.

Linus Ullmark – QS – 62.2%, RBS – 8.1%

On the other side of the coin, Ullmark should get two starts this week if the alternating trend continues. It is also possible he just gets one. As stated above, these starts come against offensive powerhouses in either the Predators, the Canes, and/or, the Panthers. Ullmark is a little more trustworthy based on his QS and RBS percentages, but these matchups are a nightmare.

You can definitely trot out Ullmark or Swayman in these tough matchups and hope that they play to their elite potential, but you never know what you might get from your goalie game-to-game. The best goalies in the league still put up a RBS. 8-15% of the time and can only be counted on for a QS 55-65% of the time. With banking on only 1 or 2 starts, I'd much prefer to target the more favourable matchup from less elite goalies; guys like Grubauer, Daccord, Varlamov, or Rittich.

Good luck everyone! Hope you enjoyed. Follow me on X @fantasycheddar, where I will answer any questions you may have.