Heading into the 2020-21 National Hockey League regular season, the Calgary Flames signed free agent goaltender Jacob Markstrom of Gavle, Sweden to a six-year contract worth $36 million. The Flames decided to go with Markstrom as their go-to-guy with David Rittich as their backup, and allowed former goalie Cam Talbot to sign with the Minnesota Wild.
Well, it is still early in the season, but so far Markstrom has provided the Flames with a steady presence at the goaltending position. On Saturday, Markstrom recorded his second shutout of the season, as the Flames upset the Montreal Canadiens 2-0.
In the game, Markstrom made 37 saves. He made 12 saves in the first period, 15 saves in the second period, and 10 saves in the third period.
Markstrom now has a record of three wins, two regulation losses, and one loss in extra time, with a stingy goals against average of 2.18, and a save percentage of .929. Yes, it is still early, but the best goals against average Markstrom had prior to this season was a 2.63 in the 2016-17 season. Markstrom also has a career goals against average of 2.79.
One must also realize that Markstrom only has seven shutouts in 11 NHL seasons and 278 regular season games, and one shutout in 14 playoff games. Already, Markstrom has played in two games in 2020-21 without giving up a single goal. Markstrom’s other shutout this season came in a 3-0 Flames win over the Canucks on January 16.
In the Flames’ win over the Canadiens at the Bell Centre on Saturday, Calgary got a first period goal from Johnny Gaudreau of Salem County, NJ, and a third period empty net goal from Mikael Backlund of Vasteras, Sweden. Elias Lindholm of Boden, Sweden led the Flames in scoring with two points as he recorded assists on both of the Flames’ goals.
With the win, the Flames improved to a record of three wins, three regulation losses, and one loss in extra time for seven points. They are three points back of the fourth place Winnipeg Jets. However, the Flames have played in only seven games this season, the least in the North Division.
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