BACK TO MARKSTROM
Choice is clear for Canucks
Jacob Markstrom expects to play and Sven Baertschi hopes to play Saturday.
And Travis Green wants to make sure we know what’s at play when he spins the goalie roulette wheel.
There’s always some level of drama when the Vancouver Canucks depart on a road trip and this one is no different.
This five-game slog through Toronto, Montreal, Washington, Columbus and Minnesota will determine if Markstrom can take another step in his development, whether Baertschi can quickly get up to speed after missing 10 games with a fractured jaw and whether the club can cling to the faint hope of a wild-card playoff position.
A year ago, Markstrom went 1-2 in three January starts as Willie Desjardins kept deferring to Ryan Miller. It will be different this time around, or at least we think so.
Markstrom should shoulder the bulk of the workload, especially after Anders Nilsson allowed two bad early goals Tuesday and was yanked after four goals on 19 shots in a 5-0 loss to the Anaheim Ducks.
His goals-against average has ballooned to 3.53 and his save percentage has dropped to .900. His structure and confidence have also plummeted.
So it sounds like a no-brainer, right? Just ride Markstrom and establish him as the guy. His numbers are better (2.79 GAA and .906 percentage) than Nilsson’s and he seems better equipped mentally to handle the net.
But listen to Green.
“It’s been difficult since Day 1,” he said of naming a starter. “I’m not worried about Markstrom. He’s a competitor and had two pretty good games, but I thought it was time to get Nilsson back in. It’s funny. People say play Marky every game and then they say you’re not playing Nilly enough.
“Our goalies haven’t played up to par and anyone can second-guess. I’m confident in both guys and I know the psyche of Marky more than Nilly.”
Still, you’d think with the team having but two wins in its last 12 outings — 2-9-1 — establishing a starter would be wiser than trying to play a pair and hope one grabs the reins.
Goalie coach Dan Cloutier said there’s no playing plan and that the hockey operations department often waits until late in the day to determine the starter the next day.
“From the outside looking in, it’s always easy to second-guess when the game is over,” stressed Green. “There are other things that people from the outside don’t consider. They don’t consider the pressure a goalie is under, the psyche of the goal and dealing with the media.
“A lot goes into how many games in a row you put a goalie in and who needs to play to stay sharp if there’s a bonafide No. 1 and No. 2 on your team. We take everything into consideration. I’m not saying we have a No. 1 and a No. 2. It’s obvious. Marky has played more, but I’m never going to make the perfect decision every game. Now everyone thinks Markstrom should be the No. 1 and in November, they thought Nilsson should get more playing time and be the No.1.”
Well, Nilsson had a .940 save percentage back then.
Markstrom is being paid like a starter, but there’s more to the dynamic than appearing in 28 games compared with 14 for Nilsson. And even if Markstrom is playing Saturday, he might not find out until tonight.
“It’s been pretty much like that my whole career and the day before, I get a text from Greener or Cloots to tell me if I’m playing or not,” Markstrom said with a shrug. “That’s how it is. Greener knows me and not much has changed in how I like to compete and how much I hate to lose.
“Anders and I had a really good conversation off the ice in trying to help each other as much as we can.
We’ve got to stick together and we want both of us to be successful.” Not that it’s easy.
“In the beginning of the year, I was kind of beating myself up too much,” admitted Markstrom. If I had an off night, I used to be able to think about it for two or three days before my next start. Now, I know you can’t let it affect your game. I’m still working on that a lot and I’m more comfortable with it.
“It’s an easy position to point fingers when things go wrong. But I chose to be a goalie and I don’t regret it. I love the challenge.”
Baertschi is buoyed by maintaining a level of fitness despite the jaw fracture he suffered Dec. 9 at Calgary when a clearing attempt off the glass struck his cheekbone and the force fractured his jaw on the other side.
“I had a guy in front of me and I didn’t see the puck coming and I didn’t see it until the last second,” recalled Baertschi, who will play with a protective shield. “I was lucky enough to turn away or else I would have lost all my teeth. I was also lucky that I didn’t need surgery.”
OVERTIME: Ben Hutton has sat three of the last five games and Green said he has eight capable defencemen and deployment changes on a nightly basis. “Our top three changes every night and I’m not concerned about him (Hutton). He’ll get back in.”