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IWTG: Jacob Markstrom posts a wild shutout to give Canucks a 2-1 series lead

"We had a lot of guys who made key blocks and helped me,” said Markstrom, “so this is a team shutout.”
Daniel Wagner
Daniel Wagner
newiwtg-via
graphic: Dan Toulgoet and Freepik

Jacob Markstrom played in his first NHL game way back on January 23rd, 2011. It took him until December 5th, 2017, nearly seven years later, to record his first career NHL shutout. It was his 115th NHL start and 129th NHL game.

By that time, Markstrom had stopped caring about whether he was ever going to get a shutout, part of his maturation process into becoming a great starting goaltender.

“Early in my career, I had a couple really close ones,” he said after finally breaking the streak. “I was 21 years old, and then you really wanted it, a shutout in the NHL, and then it just kinda went away, that urge… I just wanted to win hockey games. I just kinda accepted that I ain’t getting one.”

It didn’t take him anywhere near as long to record his first postseason shutout, though it was certainly a long journey to getting there. This qualifying round against the Minnesota Wild is Markstrom’s first taste of postseason hockey in the NHL, a fact that is more indicative of the teams he’s played for than the quality of his play.

On Thursday afternoon in Edmonton, Markstrom recorded his first NHL postseason shutout in just his third postseason game. Same as after his first regular season shutout, Markstrom cared a lot more about getting the win and what his team accomplished than any individual achievement.

“The guys are sacrificing their body with blocking shots,” said Markstrom. “They did a great job cleaning out rebounds and pucks that squirt out from me, it was a huge team win.”

Even when prompted for how a postseason shutout might be more tough than a regular season shutout, Markstrom deflected the attention as deftly as he deflected pucks away from the net all game.

“Tyler Motte had seven blocks and we had a lot of guys who made key blocks and helped me,” he said, “so this is a team shutout.”

As much as Markstrom is quick to give credit to the skaters in front of him, the big Swede deserves his own kudos. He made 27 saves, including four on sniper Kevin Fiala, who put two pucks past him in Game 2. Contrary to his wilder efforts in Game 1, Markstrom stayed cool and calm in net, eliminating gaps in his stance and only losing his structure when absolutely necessary to scramble for a save.

Despite the challenges and setbacks throughout Markstrom’s career, he’s kept truckin’. It’s been a long, strange trip for Markstrom and a slightly less long, less strange trip for me to watch this game.

  • Unlike Markstrom, it’s been a short trip to the postseason for Quinn Hughes, who is still in his rookie year. You wouldn’t know it from the way he soaks up minutes like a savvy veteran. Hughes played 22:47 in this game, second only to Alex Edler, and that only because the Canucks got into penalty trouble. Like a bottle of Corona, Hughes was sublime, tallying an assist on all three Canucks goals.
     
  • Tyler Myers, on the other hand, had a rougher game, and I don’t say that just because of all his roughing penalties. Myers has had trouble dealing with the Wild’s speed all series, which isn’t a great sign because the Wild are not a particularly fast team. He took three minor penalties in this game, giving him seven through three games, the most in the NHL.
     
  • This series has grown increasingly nasty. After Elias Pettersson sent Ryan Hartman tumbling to the ice in Game 2, Hartman was looking to get a piece of Pettersson in Game 3. Midway through the second period, he got more than a piece, running Pettersson from behind into the boards.
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  • In Hartman’s defence, Pettersson was tripped up by Eric Staal a moment before the hit, putting him in an even more vulnerable position, but Pettersson was already facing the boards when Hartman committed to the hit. It’s fortunate that Pettersson was able to tuck his head in and take the collision with the boards on his shoulders, or he could have been seriously injured. 
     
  • The nasty edge to the game led to plenty of power play opportunities and Brock Boeser opened the scoring on one of them. It was a classic setup: Hughes to Pettersson for the one-timer from the PetterZone. Alex Stalock, who’s been giving up big rebounds all series, gave up another one off the blocker, and Boeser was all over it like a parachute on an elementary school student, diving out to backhand the rebound home.
     
  • It was a special goal for Boeser, who pointed skyward to dedicate it to his friend, Ty Alyea, who died in a car accident in 2014. This was the first time since then that Boeser has played a hockey game on the same day of his friend’s car accident, which weighed heavily on his mind. “It’s a tough day for my friends and I,” he said after the game. “To be able to get one for him, it’s something special.”
  • Antoine Roussel extended the Canucks lead early in the second period when Brad Hunt couldn’t hold in a Quinn Hughes ring-around at the blue line. There was no catching Roussel, who took off like a dragster, cut to the net, and finished on the backhand before letting out an exultant scream of victory. That scream was cut short when he lost an edge and crashed to the ice, but that couldn’t put a damper on his joy. 
     
  • The Wild nearly responded shortly after, but Joel Eriksson Ek was embarrassed to find his stick was upside down when he tried to shovel home a rebound, his butt end waving uselessly past the puck. Not his finest moment.
  • The long break between games because of the pandemic seems to have helped Brandon Sutter, who was noticeable all game with his work on the penalty kill and his drive to the net. He finished with three shots on goal to go with his defensive game. His biggest impact, however, was on Kevin Fiala, who he buried into the boards after the Wild sniper bumped into Markstrom after the whistle.
  • While Sutter had a decent game, it was baffling to hear Ron MacLean, during the second intermission, say, “When I see Elias Pettersson on the forecheck, I think, boy, that’s Brandon Sutter...teaching him.” That's utter rot. Pettersson has always been relentless in his puck pursuit — that’s not something he ever had to learn from Sutter.
     
  • It brings to mind a quote from Pettersson’s former coach with the Växjö Lakers in Sweden, Sam Hallam: “We have not taught Elias anything about the game of hockey, he is teaching us.” 
     
  • Myers led a parade to the penalty box in the third period, giving the Wild plenty of chances to mount a comeback, but it was the Canucks that got the best chances, taking advantage of the Wild taking more risks and relaxing their defensive structure. On a 2-on-1 rush, J.T. Miller gifted Bo Horvat with a wide open net, but the Canucks captain sent the puck back towards Stalock, who was able to snag it with his glove. It’s a save that looked a lot better live than it did on the slow motion replay.
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  • Not much else was going Stalock’s way in this game. Not even his Gatorade bottle was on his side.
  • It was appropriate that Hughes and Pettersson, who the Canucks’ two best players all game, were able to put a bow on this shutout victory. With the Canucks on the power play late in the game, the Wild tried to push the puck up ice and get Stalock to the bench for the extra attacker. Instead, Hughes made a great read and jumped up to create a 2-on-1 with Pettersson. Stalock challenged Hughes, hoping his defenceman could take away the pass. He couldn’t. The pass was perfectly placed and Pettersson ripped a one-timer from one knee just inside the post.