With the Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars nearly canceling each other out offensively to start their playoff series, their goalies take center stage.
Calgary’s Jacob Markstrom and his Stars counterpart Jake Oettinger have each allowed a single goal in the first two games of the series tied 1-1 before Saturday’s Game 3 at the American Airlines Center.
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The Flames scored in the first period of a 1–0 win in Game 1, followed by the Stars doing the same in Game 2, but adding an empty goal at the Saddledome.
The 32-year-old Markstrom brought more playoff experience to this series than the 23-year-old Oettinger, who made his postseason debut in Calgary.
However, Markstrom is appearing in front of fans in the postseason for the first time in his career.
The Flames goaltender opened with a 16-save shutout in Game 1 and refused 21-of-22 shots in the Game 2 loss.
Joe Pavelski’s long shot from Jason Robertson over Markstrom’s glove in the first period became the game-winning goal for the Stars.
“All the challenges that any goalie faces here is you have to stop the puck and you have to be better than the other goalie,” Markstrom said.
“It will be difficult. It’s going to be a battle. In the playoffs, everything escalates a little bit with shots and traffic and people in front of the net and all of that. You have to keep playing your game, stay calm and stop as many pucks as you can.”
Oettinger has been the busier man whose 29-save shutout in Game 2 kept the pressing Flames at bay. Lakeville, Minnesota, made 25 saves and allowed a power play goal to Elias Lindholm five minutes into Game 1.
“I’ve been to playoff games as a fan and I knew the intensity. When you’re between the pipes, it’s a whole different ballgame,” Oettinger said.
“It’s a dream come true to be the starting goalie in the playoffs here and I’m going to try to continue to give my team a chance to win.”
Markstrom is an elite NHL goalie who can put an exclamation point on that status with a long playoff streak.
The 6-foot-6, 206-pound Swede was considered a great acquisition by Flames general manager Brad Treliving when Markstrom signed a six-year, $36 million deal in October 2020.
Markstrom has lived up to his billing in his first full season as the Flame. His nine shutouts led the NHL.
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His goals-against average (2.22) and save percentage (.922) ranked in the top five. His 63 starts are tied for second with Tampa Bay’s Vasilevskiy behind Nashville’s Juuse Saros (67).
Treliving signed Markstrom shortly after the goalie helped the Vancouver Canucks reach the second round of Edmonton’s playoff bubble in 2020.
Markstrom was unable to finish the series against the Vegas Golden Knights due to injury, but came out of his first postseason with an 8-6 record.
“I made tons of great saves at the right times,” recalled Flames defenseman Chris Tanev, who was also his Canucks teammate at the time.
“Unfortunately, he got hammered against Las Vegas, but up to that point he was great for us and one of the main reasons we were able to get this far.
“I have said it for a long time. I think he is, if not the best, one of the top two or three goalkeepers in the league. I have played with him for a long time. I love to play with him. I love communicating with him. He is as good as he gets and he will only get better for us.”
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Injuries to Ben Bishop, Braeden Holtby and Anton Khudobin have turned the Stars’ goal into a carousel this season.
Oettinger, a first-round pick by the Stars (26) in 2017, took the most starts going 30-15-1. Oettinger had one shutout, posting a 2.53 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.
“Young goalie, but he doesn’t look like it,” said Stars defenseman Esa Lindell.
The six-foot-five, 220-pound goalkeeper played a few minutes cleaning Edmonton’s bubble and faced eight shots in all.
“Markstrom has a lot more experience dealing with this than Jake, and with that being said, we have full confidence in Jake and will get him through this,” Stars head coach Rick Bowness said before the series.
“His athleticism, his competition, he’s mentally strong, when he had some tough nights, he bounced back. We’ve put him in back-to-back games and he’s played really well.”
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Lindholm’s top line, Matthew Tkachuk and Johnny Gaudreau produced Calgary’s only goal in the first two games.
The Flames limited the No. 1 Stars trio of Pavelski, Robertson and Roope Hintz to just two shots in Game 1 before Pavelski scored in Game 2.
Bolstered by the work of their goalkeepers, each team’s penalties are also stifling scoring. Stars are 0 out of 7 and flames are 1 out of 8.
“They’ve got great shooters over there and some guys that can score,” Oettinger said. “If we can keep them out, it’s my job to find stops.”
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