Canucks monthly December edition: Burrows night, win streak, more

Markstrom’s elite December

From last December to this one, Markstrom has been a goaltender of elite caliber. He made it official when he closed out the decade with four wins in a row. That’s right, Markstrom is elite. The Swedish back stopper is at the top of his game, and he bailed out the Canucks more than once in December.

Most goalies tend to trend downwards when they are overplayed. That simply is not the case for soon to be 30-year-old. Thatcher Demko was concussed earlier this month after colliding with teammate Loui Eriksson in practice. That meant Markstrom was going to have to put the team on his back and carry the load.

Markstrom did just that in December. From the 10th to the 28th, Markstrom started nine consecutive games — in a row gathering five wins. It does help that Markstrom got four days off over Christmas followed by a few extra days in the New Year transition.

Either way, that is still nine straight starts and within those nine games, he faced 314 total shots.

Two of his career-best were played in December. His first was a shutout victory against the Carolina Hurricanes on Dec. 12. In a game that the Canucks had no business winning, Markstrom stood tall by turning down all 43 shots that extended into overtime until Pettersson was able to come along and roof one upstairs to end it in the extra frame. A stellar performance and a valuable win.

You could argue his win against the Los Angeles Kings on the 28th was even more incredible. He may not have gotten the shutout, but Markstrom denied 49 pucks of a total 51 en route to his 100th career victory. You really can’t reach such a milestone in a better way. Simply, jaw-dropping saves from your goalie that you know are worth the price of admission alone.

Here’s to Markstrom bringing the fire into 2020.