Lightning 5, Devils 1: Markstrom struggles again

Jacob Markstrom put forth his fifth Really Bad Start in eight tries, continuing a run of bad goaltending.

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The New Jersey Devils were blown out by the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night, although the game was played closer than the score suggests.

Let’s get into a few takeaways:

Houston, we have a problem 😬

It’s not a big deal to be a little slow out of the gate. It’s not a big deal to hit a couple of rough patches over a long season. But Jacob Markstrom is very much testing the limits of that right now.

He put forth another poor showing against the Lightning, conceding five times on 29 shots.

Last night marked the seventh time in eight starts he’s given up at least three goals. It was also the fifth time he had a Really Bad Start (sub .850 SV%), putting him in the same ballpark as last year’s total…but in 41 fewer starts.

He posted an .850 SV% or worse just seven times over 49 games, one of the better marks in the league. He’s already done that five times this season, completely flipping the script.

I’m not going to sit here and tell you the guys in front of him are exempt from any blame.

It’s not as if the Devils played lights out defense all night and he simply conceded five unscreened point shots.

There were undoubtedly a couple he’d want a mulligan on, though, and that has become all too common of a theme this season.

Of the 40 goaltenders to make at least eight appearances thus far, only two grade out worse by Goals Saved Above Expected.

He hasn’t been good. He hasn’t been OK. He has been bad. And nightly at that.

I understand he missed some time with injury. I understand the defense is missing key pieces. I don’t really care.

We are nearing the end of November and he has put forth one (1) Quality Start. One. Nico Daws has only made one start this season and he’s matched that output. It’s ridiculous.

Markstrom is a veteran netminder being paid $6 million this season (and for the next two) to stop pucks at a decent clip. He needs to deliver much better results, even behind a banged up team.

The elixir worked 🧪