1. The Goaltending Has Been Leading The Charge
This is Jacob Markstrom’s second year with the Calgary Flames, but it is his first with the best performance of his life thus far. Markstrom has his best save percentage of his entire career at .926 percent and he has a goals-against-average of 2.15 per game. Those are some strong numbers that are keeping his team in the mix.
This season Markstrom has five shutouts. The goaltender already has five shutouts and has only played in 24 games in his entire career. Going into this season he had only recorded eight shutouts through the first 315 games and through 24 he already has five on the season.
The Flames netminder still has a long way to go on this current contract. He signed during the 2020 offseason and is signed for six million through the end of the 2025-26 season. That is a long time to keep a netminder signed, but considering the Flames have run with guys like Brian Elliott and Mike Smith in the past, having the goaltending position locked up definitely won’t hurt this team.
Jacob Markstrom is seventh in the league save percentage and leads the league in shutouts. The Flames are going to need him to go far in the postseason.