New Jersey Devils fans know Jacob Markstrom blunders all too well. On Saturday, Markstrom’s knack of making a costly mistake was on a global level.
With under a minute left in the third period of Sweden’s tilt vs. Simon Nemec and Slovakia, Markstrom and Co. held a 5-2 lead that would have claimed their division and given Sweden a bye after the prliminary round.
However, with 39 seconds remaining on the clock, Markstrom mishandled a shot by Juraj Slafkovsky which trickled behind him leaving the puck loose in the crease. The result was St. Louis Blues forward Dalibor Dvorsky scoring, which jeopardizes Sweden’s chances at a bye following the preliminary round of play if they lose the goal differential tie breaker by the end of Saturday.
The mistake forced Sweden’s head coach Sam Hallam to pull Markstrom in favor of Filip Gustavsson despite holding a two-goal lead.
“You win the game and you don’t know what to think,” Sweden forward Marcus Johansson said.
“We did all the right things to score five goals and you win the hockey game, but it feels like a loss,” said Markstrom.
In the likely case that Finland beats Italy on Saturday, Sweden will have to play in the quarterfinal, and they will lose their group.
It’s an unfortunate outcome for Markstrom who previously showed well allowing just two goals on 31 shots.
Markstrom was awarded his first-ever Olympic start, which came to a crashing halt.
It’s not unlike Markstrom’s performance all season long. The 35-year-old goaltender currently sports an .882 save percentage and 3.20 goals against average.
Markstrom also ranks 84th out of 91 goaltenders with -10.9 goals saved above expected.
The Devils inked Markstrom earlier this season to a two-year extension that carries a $6 million average annual value.
It’s not unlike Markstrom to have an off season following a strong campaign, which he had in his first season in New Jersey with a 26-16-6 record, 2.50 GAA, and .900 SV%.
Sweden’s 2-0-1 record in the preliminary round could be good enough for them to claim their group. However, it is contingent on their rival’s outcome later in the day on Saturday.
