Picking the right goaltender is a big part of your fantasy lineup's overall success at Fanduel. Of all your picks, your goaltender will be the player that's on the ice for something close to 100% of the game time. Making sure your goaltender is playing and that he should be playing well could be the difference between a bottom-tier finish and a top-tier finish.

Take Philipp Grubauer on tonight

One game on March 29Th will feature the Washington Capitals against the Colorado Avalanche, a game that will be played in Denver as part of the late action in Wednesday's schedule (10 p.m.

ET/ 8 p.m. MT). Importantly, the Capitals just played on Tuesday night and regular starter Braden Holtby was in net.

That means that Washington is very likely to go with its back-up goaltender on Wednesday, Philipp Grubauer. He's certainly no slouch despite the back-up status, in fact, a recent ESPN article suggested that he is a prime candidate to be selected by the Las Vegas Golden Knights in the expansion draft that takes place March 28.

On his own, Grubauer is a solid pick in fantasy for March 29. He is 10-6 on the year, he has a save percentage of .925, and his goals-against average is just 2.10. Furthermore, he is priced cheap for a goalie at $8200, meaning that you should have some salary to allocate to some solid skaters.

Another point that can't be ignored is who Washington is playing tonight.

The Colorado Avalanche are the least-likely team to light up their competition. They are an egregious -106 on the season for goal differential, they only have 147 goals to date, and they don't play well at home with just an 11-24-2 record when hosting.

Grubauer is unlikely to get shelled and, although that may reduce his saves, he is a prime candidate for a win - if not a shutout.

If Washington does win via the shutout with Grubauer in net, then that's a bonus 20 points on the night that will go a long way to getting you into the top tier of finishers. (i.e. a shutout is worth 8 points and a win is worth 20).

Grubauer's playing status

As for Grubauer's playing status (10 a.m. ET, March 29), it's something to watch over the course of the day. NHLstartingsix.com currently lists him as "expected." Given that Holtby gave up four last night, it should be hard for head coach Barry Trotz to go back to him the very next night.
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