Canucks: Jacob Markstrom can steal the series vs. Golden Knights

If Jacob Markstrom continues his superb postseason play, the Vancouver Canucks should manage to get past the Vegas Golden Knights.

Goaltending can make or break a team in the NHL playoffs, and fortunately for the Vancouver Canucks, they have one who falls into the “make” category.

30-year-old netminder Jacob Markstrom has had a handful of off games during these playoffs. But there has been far more good than bad on his end. And when he’s “good”, Markstrom tends to play at a Vezina-like level.

Through the first 12 playoff games, Markstrom has recorded a .925 save percentage and a 2.64 goals against average. This save against the St. Louis Blues in the second period of Game 5 was a major turning point in their first round series.

After a forgettable effort against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 1 (five goals allowed on 34 shots), Markstrom bounced back with a grade-A performance, stopping 38 of 40 shots in a 5-2 victory.

Having support from the offence sure helped, but the Golden Knights had a plethora of chances to tie the game up in the second period. Markstrom held his ground throughout, and the Canucks did their job by lighting up Robin Lehner for five goals.

There’s little denying that the Golden Knights are the better team. They’re faster, deeper, tougher and obviously more experienced. But the Canucks carry perhaps the most valuable advantage of them all: Goaltending.

Markstrom stole plenty of games for the Canucks during the 2019-20 regular season. And even when he’s had off nights (see the qualifying round against the Minnesota Wild), the high-powered offence — led by captain Bo Horvat, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller — has usually been there to save him.

This series with Vegas is now a best-of-five. Absolutely anything can happen, and you know the Golden Knights will come out full of energy following a frustrating Game 2 outing.

But even if the Golden Knights outplay Vancouver the rest of the way, that doesn’t guarantee they’ll win the series by any means. Again, it often comes down to who has the better goaltending when it matters most.

Right now, it’s hard to argue that Markstrom isn’t the best starting goalie remaining in the Western Conference side of the playoffs. If he continues to perform at such a dominant level, the Canucks will be in great position to upset the Golden Knights and thus punch their ticket to the Western Conference Final.