Vancouver Canucks need to stick with Jacob Markstrom

It’s January, and yet the Vancouver Canucks find themselves right in the playoff conversation. This has been thanks in part to solid play from hot netminder Jacob Markstrom.

At the midway point in January, the Vancouver Canucks are in a foot race for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.

The team has surprised many this year, but one of the most delightful surprises for fans has been the stellar play from Jacob Markstrom. The 6-foot-6 netminder had a strong month of December, backstopping the Canucks to nine wins, looking solid in each. The Canucks then lost three games in the first two weeks of January, two of which the Canucks failed to record a goal.

Obviously, Markstrom is not to blame for either of those losses, and believe it or not, he was keeping the Canucks in the games despite the team in front of him having nothing to show for their efforts.

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The game against the Arizona Coyotes may be the only one that Markstrom could have maybe played better in, but other than that, the 28-year-old has been more than solid for the Canucks.

In comes the Thatcher Demko call-up. When goaltender Anders Nilsson didn’t speak to the media — after giving up four goals to the New Jersey Devils — many fans, including myself, were hoping the Canucks would announce that Demko would be joining the team.

Like many fans, after Demko received the much anticipated and much-deserved call up to the big club, I couldn’t wait to see him start for the Canucks. I had a strong feeling that Demko would be given the nod for Sunday’s tilt with the Florida Panthers.

The Canucks all-time leader in wins — and arguably the best goalie in franchise history — Roberto Luongo, faced off against the Canucks highly-touted young netminder. The stage was set in my mind.

Then the Canucks announced that Markstrom would be starting. I understood the move, you stick with your hot goaltender. And boy, was it ever the right move to make. Markstrom was once again solid, making key saves early on to shift momentum in favour of the Canucks — something he struggled to do earlier in his career.

In a game fueled by passion and emotion, Markstrom absolutely stoned Nick Bjugstad early in the third period, which led to a frustrated Bjugstad banging his stick on the boards behind the Canucks’ net.

For those that didn’t see the save, I’ll just leave this tweet from the Canucks here.

Quite the save, to say the least. It is saves like these and all-around solid play that cause me to believe that the Canucks need to stick with Markstrom down the final stretch of this season. Demko will do just fine serving as the backup down the stretch for the Canucks, and if Demko plays extraordinarily, then the Canucks, by all means, should give him a few extra starts.

While there is no rush to play Demko, I would love to see the Canucks let him start at home against one of the upcoming weaker opponents. Perhaps the Buffalo Sabres or Detroit Red Wings?

What the Canucks have right now is a confident starting goaltender who is seemingly finding his swagger at the right time. The last thing we want to see is Markstrom have all his momentum drained by riding the pine for back to back games.

I’m a firm believer in sticking with your hot goaltender, and until Markstrom’s level of play begins to decrease, the Canucks need to stick with him — no matter how badly us fans want to see Demko play.

If Demko comes in and plays out of this world, then we can talk about a battle for the crease. But for now, Markstrom is this team’s starter.