New Jersey Devils netminder Jacob Markstrom has played 485 games in the NHL over the past 14 seasons. What are these top 10 performances?
On Wednesday afternoon, the New Jersey Devils acquired Jacob Markstrom from the Calgary Flames. The native of Galve, Sweden, has played 485 games over 14 seasons with the Florida Panthers, Vancouver Canucks, and Flames.
It is rather difficult to pick his best games as a goalie who plays in the best professional hockey league in the world and represents his home country in international competitions.
Markstrom has made some highlight-reel saves throughout his career. Sometimes, those big moments came in wins and sometimes in losses.
Instead of digging through 485 games of highlights, we want to look at his best single-game performances based on saves and save percentage.
As New Jersey fans get acquainted with their new goalie, they will see that he's pretty good when he faces many shots.
Jacob Markstrom's Top 10 Games in the NHL
10. Jan. 4, 2020 - Vancouver Canucks v. New York Rangers
Markstrom is 9-4-2 against the New York Rangers in 16 career games. His best performance against the Original Six franchise came on Jan. 4, 2020, at Rogers Arena in a 2-1 win.
Tied 1-1 in the third, Tyler Myers netted the game-winner with less than two minutes left as Markstrom made 36 on 37 shots. His .973 SV% ranks as the sixth-best single-game performance in his career.
9. Dec. 12, 2022 - Calgary Flames v. Montreal Canadiens
Markstrom had one of his best performances with the Flames against the Montreal Canadiens on Dec. 12, 2022. Although Calgary would lose 2-1 in a shootout, their Swedish netminder made 37 saves on 38 shots to finish the night with a .974 SV%.
Outside of games in which he records a shutout, Markstrom is 18-3-1 in contests in which he records a .970 SV% or better and had two games like this with the Flames against the Canadiens, where he was 1-0-1.
8. Oct. 24, 2011 - Florida Panthers v. Montreal Canadiens
On Oct. 24, 2011, Markstrom backstopped the Panthers to a 2-1 victory over the Canadiens. After falling behind 1-0, Florida rallied with a go-ahead goal midway through the third to pick up their fifth win of the season.
Markstrom had one of those bend-don't-break games between the pipes, stopping 40 of 41 shots for a .976 SV%, his best performance until 2013. His statistics from this game over 13 years ago still rank among the highest in his career.
7. Feb. 25, 2018 - Vancouver Canucks v. Arizona Coyotes
The Canucks visited the Arizona Coyotes on Feb. 25, 2018 at Gila River Arena. The visitors skated away with a 3-1 victory, while their netminder, Markstrom, made 41 saves on 42 shots to finish with a .976 SV%.
Vancouver scored two goals to win after the two teams were tied 1-1 midway through the third. Markstrom's .976 SV% is tied for the third-highest total in a single game of his career.
6. Mar. 21, 2013 - Florida Panthers v. New York Rangers
Outside of the 22 times Markstrom has posted a shutout or come in for a relief appearance, his career-best performance is a .979 SV%, which occurred in a contest between the Panthers and the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Mar. 21, 2013.
Florida jumped out to a 2-0 lead and added an empty netter, while the Rangers only got one past Markstrom, who finished the game with a .978 SV%, stopping 44 of 45 shots. This game was his best performance in a Panthers uniform.
5. Feb. 10, 2022 - Calgary Flames v. Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs visited the Flames at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Feb. 10, 2022, and walked away with a 5-2 loss. However, that night, they registered 48 shots on goal, with Markstrom stopping all but two of them.
He finished the contest with a .958 SV%, the fourth-best number facing 48 shots combined between the regular season and playoffs. Markstrom is 3-4 in games when he sees that many shots.
4. Mar. 9, 2022 - Calgary Flames v. Dallas Stars
In Game 4 of the Flames' 2022 Stanley Cup Playoff series with the Dallas Stars, Markstrom made 35 saves to ensure a Calgary 4-1 victory, which evened the series at 2-2.
His .971 SV% in Game 4 is the best of his playoff career outside of two shutouts, one against the Minnesota Wild (2020) and against the Stars in Game 1 of this same series.
3. Mar. 22, 2016 - Vancouver Canucks v. Winnipeg Jets
The Canucks were six games under .500 when they visited the Winnipeg Jets on Mar. 22, 2016. In the 2-0 loss, Markstrom gave up a third-period goal before Mark Scheifele scored into an empty net.
With 47 saves on 48 shots, the Swedish netminder finished the evening with a .979 SV%, the highest total he's recorded in a regular season loss thus far.
2. Aug. 16, 2020 - Vancouver Canucks v. St. Louis Blues (Playoffs)
During the playoffs in Edmonton in August 2020, Markstrom stopped a playoff-best 46 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss to the St. Louis Blues.
With the loss, he improved to 1-1 in games when he faced at least 49 shots, the only two times in his career seeing that much rubber.
1. Dec. 28, 2019 - Vancouver Canucks v. Los Angeles Kings
On Dec. 28, 2019, the Los Angeles Kings visited the Canucks at Rogers Arena. The home team escaped with a 3-2 victory when Elias Pettersson netted the game-winner at 7:05 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie.
However, the Kings were relentless in this game, firing a season-high 51 shots on Markstrom, who made a career-high 49 saves to preserve the win. He finished the night with a .961 SV%, the only time he's ever faced over 50 shots in a game.