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Calgary Flames

Flames Fall But Markstrom Rises In 2-1 Shootout Loss to Canadiens

Jonathan Huberdeau was good. Jacob Markstrom was great. But the Calgary Flames couldn’t beat the Montreal Canadiens in a 2-1 shootout.

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Considering it was their last meeting that broke him, it was fitting that Calgary Flames goaltender Jacob Markstrom played arguably his best game of the season in the rematch. 

OK, maybe there’s no arguing it. 

Remember the guy who told the world he “sucks at hockey” a couple of weeks ago? He showed just how inaccurate that heat-of-the-moment statement was on Monday night in a 2-1 shootout loss at the Bell Centre in Montreal. 

A loss, yes. 

Markstrom and the Flames didn’t manage to grab both points in action-packed but low-scoring affair. But the goaltender definitely deserved them. 

And Montreal product Jonathan Huberdeau did his best to help him get them. 

Huberdeau scored their only goals on the night. One in regulation and another one in the shootout as the Bell Centre crowd rained boos down on him.

It was a nice effort in front of many family and friends in attendance. However, it paled in comparison to what Markstrom did as an individual on the night. 

He made at least a half-dozen stellar stops on sequences in regulation that might have found their way past him on another night. Not this one. The veteran was dialed in with the same laser focus he showed in a Vezina worthy season a year ago. He showed the athleticism that made him a top free agent prize a few summers ago. 

In overtime, he gave the Calgary Flames a chance to earn that second point when they really had no business claiming it. 

For the second straight game, the team took a penalty in overtime. This one was a four-minute version, with Tyler Toffoli drawing blood when he clipped Josh Anderson in the face with his stick. 

A matter of time before the Habs scored, right?

No. During a frantic four minutes before the overtime expired, Markstrom made seven more saves. He finished with 37 stops on 38 shots in 65 minutes before allowing two in the showdown. 

His .975 save percentage was his best of the season. 

“Marky was huge,” Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter said afterward

“You guys know what I think about our goalie. Same guys that ask me questions about how good he is are also the ones who say what’s wrong with him. There’s nothing wrong with him.”

Another game or two like that and even Markstrom’s harshest critics this year will start to come around.