On Boxing Day at home against the Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks backup netminder Jacob Markstrom played one of his best games of the year, stopping 32 of 33 shots en route to a 2-1 overtime victory.
The win continued a run of strong play for the Swedish stopper, who has allowed just four goals on 96 shots over his last 11 periods of hockey. Though he has only three wins in 11 appearances this season, he’s pushed his goals against average down to a respectable 2.33, while his .924 SV% is 10th in the NHL.
The Future is Now for Jacob Markstrom
Rewind to late November, and things didn’t look so rosy for Markstrom. The 25-year-old was coming off an injury which forced him to miss the first month of the season, and Canucks Head Coach Willie Desjardins seemed hesitant to give Markstrom a shot, instead choosing to ride starter Ryan Miller.
Markstrom started just three games in November, finishing the month with a 1-1-1 record while allowing 10 goals. Fans were screaming for more starts for Markstrom, not only because he is ostensibly the future of the Canucks crease, but also because Miller was starting to fade.
After an uneven start to the season which saw brilliant performances mixed with some not as stellar (to say the least), Miller’s game really fell off the rails in mid December, highlighted by a six-goal shellacking at the hands of the Minnesota Wild on December 15th.
Vancouver fans were once again up in arms, arguing (rightly) that the 35-year-old Miller couldn’t handle the same work load he once did. Everything finally came to a head in Florida on December 20th, when Miller went down with leg cramps after facing 50 Panthers shots , thrusting Markstrom into the game for the shootout, and also into the starting role. Miller hasn’t been seen since (which seems odd, as it’s been more than a week since the “cramps”), but it hasn’t mattered.
For Markstrom, the future is now. “So close, yet so far” is a very apt phrase to describe Markstrom’s progress as a goaltender in the NHL ranks, as just when he seems he’s about to “get it,” something happens – either by his own accored or some external factor – to pull him back from taking the next step. Now, Markstrom has been given a golden opportunity to take that next step over the next two games.
He’ll get tonight’s start against the L.A. Kings, with the New Year’s Day matchup against the Anaheim Ducks also likely his, while Miller seems pegged to make his return against the Arizona Coyotes on January 4th.
However, in the midst of a seven-game home stand, after a mediocre six-game road trip in which the club managed to pick up just five of a possible 12 points, Vancouver amazingly still sits tied for second in the Pacific Division (thanks to points in four straight games), and if the club is serious about making a playoff run, now is the time to get themselves in position for it, and goaltending will be paramount.
So, for the Canucks the next two games against their California rivals will be key. For Markstrom, they may be two of the most important starts of his professional career. If he can continue this run of strong play, he may finally force Desjardins’ hand and push the coach to run with a more platoon-style deployment of his netminders – something that Markstrom desperately needs at this point in his career if he ever wants to fulfill his promise as “the best young netminder not in the NHL” from his Florida days.
As we’ve seen with Miller, it’s for the good of the team as well, as the veteran stopper simply can’t physically play at his former lofty standards anymore; Miller gets the rest he now requires, Markstrom gets the starts he absolutely needs (and deserves) and the Canucks have a chance to get points every night with two quality stoppers playing the roles they are best suited for at this point in their careers.
Then there’s the alternative: L.A. comes into town and absolutely blows Markstrom out, forcing Miller to rush back for the Anaheim game and Desjardins to run Miller into the ground again, causing the Canucks to lose pace in the Pacific, dropping them down into the Auston Matthews sweepstakes, while Markstrom misses yet another chance to become an every day NHL goalie (while that scenario might seem hard-headed, Desjardins has shown a propensity for playing favorites, and it’s clear after nearly one-and-a-half years behind the Canucks bench that Miller is “his guy,” no matter how irrational that may seem to some).
As such, must of the Canucks success this season rests on Markstrom’s very tall (6’6″) shoulders. Should he play well, the Canucks goalie succession plan will continue to follow the blueprint. If not, one wonders just how far this Vancouver team can get with the overworked ghost of Ryan Miller and a floundering Jacob Markstrom, who may squander yet another opportunity to fulfill his potential.
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