NEW YEAR’S TREAT

CANUCKS 3, OILERS 2 (SO) An entertaining end to 2016 as Vancouver pushes its win streak to three

When January is over, Jacob Markstrom will be 27 years old.

In Florida, he was considered the goalie of the future for what seemed like years and years, mostly because it was. In his third season with the Canucks, he still hasn’t outrun the tagline.

Markstrom is long past being both young and a prospect. He’s good, entering his prime, but still kept to the background.

You can’t help but wonder how long the Canucks can keep this act up.

Markstrom finished his best month of the season with a statement game in Edmonton. Yes, he gave up a goal late, but that was after making 36 saves, many of them in-tight, highly difficulty.

Plus, no one is going to feel shame getting beat by Connor McDavid. That goal got Edmonton to overtime where Markstrom made a great stop on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with 90 seconds left.

Bo Horvat scored in the shootout to give Markstrom something he spent nearly three hours earning, a win. It was the Canucks third in a row, all against division rivals.

The Oilers provided all kinds of problems for the Canucks on New Year’s Eve. They started with McDavid and went all the way to the officials.

A Brandon Sutter goal, one he tipped with his stick in front of Cam Talbot’s glove was disallowed because, well, actually no reasonable person could explain why.

The Oilers’ speed was again problematic for Vancouver, but every time the Canucks needed a big stop, to be bailed out of some seemingly inescapable hole, Markstrom was there.

Through the first two periods he had 25 saves. And in the third, when Mark Letestu was on the backdoor ready to bury one, which would have tied the game, Markstrom was there, too.

When it all comes together for Markstrom, the size and athleticism, you see the potential. But how long is going to be before the Canucks let him run with some starts to see if he’s actually better with an increased workload?

What Markstrom couldn’t do was score a goal. The Bo Horvat, Alex Burrows and Sven Baertschi line helped him out there, producing two. Horvat got assists on both of those goals to take over the team lead in points.

— THE CANADIAN PRESS Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin is checked by Edmonton’s Adam Larsson during the first period of Saturday night’s game in Edmonton.

— THE CANADIAN PRESS Canucks players celebrate a goal against the Oilers during second period NHL action in Edmonton Saturday. The Canucks extended their win streak to three games.