The brutal sawing against Jacob Markström last night – accounted for one of the absolute worst paintings of the year in the must-win match

He was one of the NHL’s best goalkeepers during the regular season.
But Jacob Markström has lost all form just in time for the playoffs.
Now the Swede is sawn along the ankles – after one of the worst paintings of the year.

While in Vancouver, Jacob Markström grew to become a world goalkeeper, and since moving to the Calgary Flames, he has only established that status. In this year’s basic series, he kept the most zeros of all goalkeepers, and he was nominated for the Vezina Trophy, the prize for the basic series’ best goalkeeper.

Brutal board

Fair – everyone thought – but had the prize been based on the playoffs, Markström would have been completely without a chance, and in fact quite far from a nomination. He has had real problems, partly in the first round, but especially now in the second round, when the Flames are up against rival Edmonton Oilers.

Markström has not been in shape at all during the first matches, and the criticism of him has been palpable. And it did not get any better tonight. Markström has among the worst numbers among any goalkeeper in the entire playoffs, and the first thing that happened in the fourth match in the series was that Markström had the puck behind his own goal – and completely failed to beat it.

Toksågas now

Instead, the puck rolled only teasingly to Edmonton player Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who shot 1-0 into the open box. It was just over 20 seconds played, and the Flames never managed to turn the match around, and the Oilers are now 3-1 in games, and are just a win away from the conference final. Markström’s board is one of the worst we’ve seen in this year’s NHL, and in a situation where the Flames needed it the least – and the saws against the Swede in North America are not gracious.

Supporters are insane, wondering what really happened. The respected newspaper The Hockey News today dedicates an entire column to Markström, where they write that he was the big problem during the series against the Oilers, and that much of the disappointment can be placed on his shoulders.

“His numbers are actually completely crazy,” the newspaper writes, not referring to anything positive.