In the two weeks since Jacob Markstrom made our list of five backup goalies that weren’t getting it done, the 25-year-old has started three games for the Vancouver Canucks, won twice and allowed just four goals total.
Markstrom’s save percentage in those three games? An impressive .956.
Which is to say, he’s been getting it done.
Last night against Edmonton, he stopped 32 of 33 shots to help a severely undermanned Vancouver side to a 2-1 overtime victory. If not for the bloody (literally) heroics of Jannik Hansen, Markstrom might have been the story of the game.
“That was a big win for us,” Markstrom told the Associated Press. “I got a lot of help tonight. The boys were great.”
Markstrom’s save percentage has climbed all the way to .924, which compares favorably to Ryan Miller’s .909, albeit in considerably fewer games.
Miller hasn’t played since suffering an injury during the shootout last weekend in Florida. The Canucks originally said that the 35-year-old had cramped up, the insinuation being that it was nothing serious.
But Markstrom may be the starter for at least a couple of more games.
“Miller’s a little longer than we thought,” coach Willie Desjardins said yesterday. “I thought he’d be close to being ready to go. He’s maybe a week.”
The Canucks host Los Angeles tomorrow, then get three days off before Anaheim pays a visit Friday.
