Vancouver Canucks Goaltending Good Enough to Steal Games

Both Vancouver Canucks goaltenders are making a habit of keeping games close even when their team is being outplayed — or just getting unlucky.

Fans continue to debate who should be the Vancouver Canucks’ No. 1 goaltender.

Should it be veteran Ryan Miller, as general manager Jim Benning says? Or should it be heir-apparent Jacob Markstrom, who has quietly established himself as a quality NHL goalie?

Whichever side you take, it is a nice problem the Canucks have.

Prior to their game against the Ottawa Senators tonight, Vancouver has opened the season 4-1-1. In total, they have decided five of their six games by one goal. That includes, of course, their three comeback wins.

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Those comebacks have added some much-needed drama to their season. Last year, the team became a drag to watch. Not just because they were losing, but because they were losing in the most boring way possible. Once another team scored first the result was inevitable. The Canucks just didn’t have it in them to come back and win.

Many wonder whether the Canucks skaters can continue to rattle off as many goals as needed to tie games in the third period. Fair question. Let’s say they can’t; is the team done for?

No. Not by a long shot.

Shutting the door when it matters most.

The Canucks lost in regulation for the first time on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks. That was also the first time they won or lost by more than one goal.

Which means for the first five games, Vancouver was only one shot away from a different outcome.

To make the Stanley Cup playoffs, a team has to be able to win close games. And in order to do that, a team needs a goaltender who will keep the score close.

Miller and Markstrom are doing just that.

Both of them have a matching 1.94 goals-against average. Miller’s save percentage is a stellar .935 while Markstrom’s is .923. But it’s not just their stats that impress.

Last season, the Canucks were unable to overcome any bad fortune. One unlucky bounce or one bad period was enough to guarantee another loss.

So far this season, they’ve had bad luck and they’ve had bad periods. However, their goaltending has been so good you can hardly tell.

Good enough to overcome luck — and karma.

In the Canucks’ season opener, the team gave up an own-goal. That gaffe stood as the only goal for most of the game. Unlucky? You bet.

At that point, with his team unable to score into the other net, Ryan Miller had to be perfect or his team would lose. And perfect he was.

Just look at the saves he came up with after the Calgary Flames had “scored”:

Clutch.

On Sunday, the Ducks shelled Miller for 30 shots in the first two periods. The score after those two periods? 2-1 for Anaheim. The Canucks went on to tie the game early in the third before Nick Ritchie put the Ducks up for good.

Whether his team is totally overwhelmed or just gives up a undeserved goal, Ryan Miller is performing above and beyond the call of duty.

Jacob Markstrom has also held the fort. Against the Carolina Hurricanes his team started out well and deserved to be ahead. Instead they went down 3-0. Against the Kings his team started poorly and the Canucks once again were down 3-0.

Yet, both times, Vancouver clawed back to force overtime. The goal scorers might get most of the glory, but it was the goalie who stopped the bleeding. Markstrom halted a blowout in its tracks.

It would only have taken one shot for the Canucks to walk away from either of those games without a point. Instead they earned three of a possible four.

There’s more than one way for the Canucks to win.

Last season, both of these goaltenders were good. In fact, they were a lot better than most realize.

Miller finished with a .916 save percentage, Markstrom with .915. Those are league-average numbers. Which is impressive, considering the Canucks surrendered nearly three goals per game (243).

However, they’ve both reached another level to start this season.

Next: Nikita Tryamkin and the Russian Factor

Who knows if we’ll be writing more comeback storylines in the future? The Canucks might stop scoring game-tying goals in every third period.

The good news is, even if they do, they can still steal games. Because with goaltending this good, the Vancouver Canucks can never be counted out.

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