The Carolina Hurricanes are headed to the Stanley Cup Final, where they will face the Vegas Golden Knights. Game 1 is set for Tuesday night in Carolina.

Carolina 6, Montreal 1 (Hurricanes win series 4-1)

The unit of Taylor Hall, Logan Stankoven, and Jackson Blake may not have been the Hurricanes' top line in the regular season, but it is definitely their top line in the playoffs. Hall and Stankoven each scored a goal while adding two assists, while Blake scored a goal and added an assist. In terms of team playoff scoring, these players are currently 1-2-3 on the Canes (Hall 16 PTS, Blake 15 PTS, Stankoven 12 PTS). Hall is currently tied for third in playoff scoring in the league, behind only Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel.

Seth Jarvis, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Eric Robinson scored the Canes' other goals. Jarvis also added an assist.

Frederik Andersen had his busiest game of the series, facing 24 shots and stopping 23 of them. Not only has Andersen made it through three rounds, but he also appears to be a Conn Smythe favorite.

Doing the math, the Canadiens averaged a meager 18 shots per game in the five-game series. The way this series was trending, a Game 5 loss seemed inevitable. In fact, at one point in the game, every Habs player was on the Frozen Tools Cold List.

Cole Caufield and Lane Hutson struck their names off the list in the third period with Caufield's power-play goal assisted by Hutson. The most prominent Canadiens cold streaks were as follows:

Oliver Kapanen – 0 PTS in 17 GP, dating back to the regular season, so 0 PTS in 7 GP in playoffs

Noah Dobson – 0 PTS in 10 GP, just 1 PT in 13 GP in playoffs (his fantasy value has fallen since being traded to Montreal)

Kirby Dach – 0 PTS in 9 GP

Nick Suzuki, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Alex Newhook – 0 PTS in 4 GP

I don't mean to pile on the Habs. They took a major step forward this season but ran out of gas against the relentless tight-checking puck possession game of the Canes. Remember that Montreal survived two 7-game series in the first two rounds while Carolina barely broke a sweat with two 4-game sweeps. In four years, the Canadiens have gone from bottoming out to the conference final. The core of Caufield, Suzuki, Slafkovsky, Demidov, and Hutson has a very bright future.

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It seems like the Zero G concept applies not only to fantasy goalies, but also real-life goalies in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After all, the four starting goalies for the teams that made it to the conference finals are Andersen, Jakub Dobes, Scott Wedgewood, and Carter Hart.

That doesn't necessarily mean that Zero G is the recipe to win a Stanley Cup. For all we know, goalies like Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jake Oettinger could be back in the conference finals next season. However, a serviceable goalie seems to be enough to win a Stanley Cup in the modern 32-team NHL. That goalie in 2025-26 will either be Hart or Andersen.

Today, I'm featuring the best goalies that I added from the waiver wire this season. Call them my Zero G options if you will. The first two goalies listed helped me win a championship, while the third goalie was on a team that finished second.

Alex Lyon

Lyon was drafted in 3 percent of Yahoo leagues (even though I rostered him in a Fantrax league, where I don't see those numbers available). He was the veteran free agent addition expected to back up Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen while giving Devon Levi more seasoning in the AHL.

I added Lyon just after Christmas after a solid run of six wins in seven games with a 2.14 GAA and .924 SV% over that span. Lyon was a major part of the Sabres' sudden emergence, which made him a legitimate fantasy option. Unfortunately, Lyon was placed on IR shortly after with a lower-body injury, missing about a month of action. Once he returned, Lyon continued his successful run of play with five consecutive quality starts before the Olympic break. Lyon regressed during the fourth quarter, which gave the net back to Luukkonen for the start of the playoffs. The Sabres then flipped between Luukkonen and Lyon throughout the playoffs.

Lyon has one more year left on his contract at $1.5 million. Not only does he have UPL to battle for starts, but third-stringer Colten Ellis is also under contract for one more year. Then there's Levi, who may be ready for a full-time NHL spot. As much as Lyon was a steady, reliable goalie option for about half the season last season, he's probably back to being a Zero G option next season due to a potentially crowded Sabres' goaltending situation. Don't be surprised if you're adding him to your team from the waiver wire again, though.

Anton Forsberg

Forsberg was drafted in 0 percent of Yahoo leagues (also rostered in a Fantrax league). He entered the season as the clear backup to Darcy Kuemper, who was coming off a Vezina Trophy nomination and was expected to play the vast majority of games. For the most part it turned out that way, although Kuemper was not able to replicate his 2024-25 performance. Kuemper also had an odd win-loss record (19-14-15), since the Kings led the league with 20 overtime/shootout losses.

My addition of Forsberg late in the season had less to do with Forsberg himself and more to do with Kuemper. As someone rostering Kuemper, I needed some insurance because Kuemper was completely unreliable during the second half. Post-Olympic break, Kuemper was 5-3-6 with a 3.27 GAA and .867 SV%. That's not far above the really bad start save percentage of .850. In contrast, Forsberg was a much more reliable 6-3-0 with a 2.23 GAA and .919 SV% over the final quarter. As a result, Forsberg started all four games of the playoffs for the Kings, who were swept by Colorado as expected.

Kuemper is probably the starter to begin 2026-27, as he earns twice the salary ($5.25 million) of Forsberg ($2.25 million). However, Kuemper may be on a shorter leash and may even find himself in a timeshare situation if things do not improve. Never really a starter in his career and having reached 40 games in a season just once, Forsberg should be a true Zero G option again. He has appeared in 30 games in each of the past three seasons, and he seems like a good bet to do that again.

Brandon Bussi

Claimed off waivers by Carolina at the start of the season, Bussi was drafted in just 3 percent of Yahoo leagues. However, he was thrust into the Hurricanes' goaltending situation right away due to an injury to Pyotr Kochetkov. Desperately needing a goalie, I added Bussi on December 1 and retained him for the rest of the season.

Because Kochetkov played in just nine games, Bussi was able to stick around on the Hurricanes all season. Playing goalie for the Canes has its benefits, as Bussi demonstrated with a 31-6-2 record (and as Andersen is also demonstrating in the playoffs). However, Bussi's worst quarter of the season was the final quarter, where he settled for just a 6-3-1 record with a 2.99 GAA and .870 SV%. That decline resulted in me adding Andersen to the same team late in the season and the Canes starting Andersen throughout the playoffs. (I've discussed Andersen throughout the Canes' playoff run and didn't feel the need to reiterate his situation again.)

Bussi is under contract for three more seasons after this one, while Kochetkov has one more season left on his contract. It wouldn't surprise me if the Canes move on from UFA-to-be Andersen after the playoffs, even if he backstops his team to a Stanley Cup. Barring a trade and assuming Kochetkov is healthy (he was activated from IR in April), Bussi and Kochetkov should battle for starts next season on what should be a favorable goaltending environment for wins and goals-against average. Notice I didn't say save percentage, as the Canes' .881 team save percentage was in the bottom third of the league this season.

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Tomorrow I'll break down the Stanley Cup Final matchup as well as my pick to win, and I will also list who I believe were the top Zero G goalies of the season. In the meantime, follow me on X @Ian_Gooding and Bluesky @goodsfantasyhockey.bsky.social