Quadrelli Report: Vancouver Canucks beat Oilers, Rafferty, Markstrom shine

First game action for Markstrom

There were multiple times last night where Jacob Markstrom saw an Oilers player with a doorstep chance and not a Canuck defender in sight. It’s not something Markstrom isn’t used to, seeing as the Canucks have had a pretty subpar defence playing in front of him for the past few years.

Surely Markstrom is looking forward to the improvements his team made on the blueline, but in preseason, not all of those new additions are in the lineup. Despite that, Markstrom looked like he hasn’t missed a beat from his stellar performance last season.

The Canucks’ goaltending coach Ian Clark is partly, maybe even mostly, responsible for the new version of Markstrom that Canucks fans are quickly becoming accustomed to seeing. His positioning has improved tremendously, and his ability to keep his team in games is something that wasn’t present in past years.

The Oilers got more than a couple of beautiful power plays chances and many even-strength chances, but it didn’t matter, Markstrom was up to the task. Markstrom’s only blemish on the night was a tough shot to stop and was one that Markstrom actually almost shut the door on — the puck just squeaked past his pad that was hugged up against the post.

Markstrom was named the game’s first star. Maybe Markstrom’s pregame clothing choice had to do with the stellar performance he turned in?

Markstrom was dialed in right from the get-go in this one, and he’ll look to build off this performance, that’s for sure.

The Canucks will play next this Saturday in Salt Lake City, Utah where they will face the Los Angeles Kings. Puck drop is at 6 p.m.