Jacob Markstrom is the Difference Maker The Devils Need

The Devils and the Flames are two teams fighting for playoff spots in their respective conferences. Except one team has a number one goalie that can steal games. The other does not. Markstrom was the reason the Flames won the game against the Devils. His performance allowed the team in front of them to gain the confidence to get the win in Newark.

The Devils do not have that confidence in Vanecek.

“You look at what he faced early on; he didn’t face a lot,” Lindy Ruff said following the game. “It was a tough night for him.”

Not all of the blame goes on Vitek Vanecek, but he has to be consistently better. Vanecek shows flashes of his old form from a year ago, but that is not good enough for the Devils. He needs to do it in the big moments. Now, he could get help from his defense. But too many goals go in that are just backbreakers, which demoralizes the players on the ice.

“I think when tough goals go in, you get a little deflated, right?” Lindy Ruff said. “That’s just human nature. You’re working really hard. You’ve been scoring chances, great opportunities. A tough goal goes in. It’s deflating.”

As the late great Gord Downie, the frontman of the Tragically Hip, entitled one of his songs, ‘The Lonely End of the Rink,” well, it sure has been for Vanecek this season. 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ice, Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom stood on his head. He made big saves from when the puck dropped in the first period. As head coach Ryan Huska stated post-game, this allowed the Flames to find their legs in the second period. But it was not just the first period. It was all game long. Markstrom was in the right place at the right time.

The Devils do not have that in Vanecek. Akira Schmid and Nico Daws have done their best this season too, but it has been a glaring hole since the playoffs last season. And you need a goalie to steal games for you, especially a team like the Devils, who are fighting for a playoff spot.

The Devils continued to be linked to Jacob Markstrom. Markstrom knows he controls the cards with his no-trade clause, but the Flames will decide on his fate.

“It’s up to Calgary, what they want to do,” said Jacob Markstrom told the media. “That is what it comes down to. I don’t control it.” 

However, it is up to the Flames management to ask Markstrom to waive his no-trade clause, which General Manager Craig Conroy has yet to do. And the goaltender is not going to force anything. He wants to play the game with this group, battling to make the playoffs.

But you can see what a difference a player, Markstrom, could make for the Devils. At one point in the first period, the Devils outshot the Flames 8-1. Markstrom was the only reason it was not 2-0. With the second period beginning, the Devils were on the attack again, but there was Markstrom. The Devils could not get the lead. Calgary ends up going the other way to take the lead.

Each time the Devils got within one goal, Markstrom stood in their way. He displayed what a true number-one goalie should be. New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier scores shorthanded, and the Devils kill off the double minor, so all the momentum is with them, right? Wrong.

Markstrom makes sure the Devils do not tie the game. This leads to Andrei Kuzmenko scoring his second goal as a member of the Calgary Flames to make it 4-2. Again, the Devils battle back to make it 4-3. But once again, Markstrom does not allow the equalizer. The Flames can seal the deal with an empty net goal.

Jacob Markstrom’s performance showed why the Devils must acquire a goalie of his stature. Whether they have the package Calgary likes to acquire him is a different story. But one thing is certain: the Devils are not winning a Stanley Cup or making a deep run in the playoffs without a player like Markstrom.