Jacob Markström is playing Vezina Trophy-calibre hockey early in the 2021–22 season.
The big Swede picked up his fourth shutout of the year (in only his ninth start) during the Calgary Flames’ commanding 6-0 win over the New York Rangers on Saturday night, stopping all 22 shots he faced in the victory.
Markström’s previous career-best mark for shutouts in a season was three, which he achieved in 43 games during the 2020–21 campaign. The product of Gävle, Sweden now has a 5-1-3 record this season to go along with a .943 save percentage.
His best sequence arguably came less than a minute into the third period, when he denied @Adam Fox and @Ryan Strome with back-to-back glove saves in the span of only a couple seconds. Here’s the video, as posted to Twitter by Taranjot Vining:
Markström made another big glove save late in the third period to deny countryman @Mika Zibanejad on a cross-crease opportunity.
@Johnny Gaudreau scored twice for the Flames in the win, with @Sean Monahan, @Brad Richardson, @Milan Lucic, and @Matthew Tkachuk also adding goals to help the Flames extend their point streak to 10 games.
Now at 7-1-3 on the season, Calgary will return to action at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Nov. 9 for a Pacific Division clash with the 6-4-1 San Jose Sharks.