Jacob Markstrom was just four games away from having his name etched in the record books forever. He's probably glad that he avoided that fate.
It took him 129 games, but at long last, the lanky Swede has his first NHL shutout. This one came against a hot Hurricanes team that put up 30 shots on goal. Not a bad night for Markstrom, who narrowly avoided becoming the goaltender with the longest streak of games in net without recording a shutout.
That distinction still belongs to Pokey Reddick, who never recorded a shutout in his six-year career. He played in 132 games, putting up an abysmal 3.71 goals against average and a .873 save percentage. While that sounds like an old-timey baseball name of someone who played before World War II, Reddick actually was active in the NHL sporadically from 1986 until 1994.
Markstrom has, of course, been a much better goalie throughout his career. After a bumpy start to his career in Florida, he's settled down in Vancouver, with a .912 save percentage and 2.64 goals against average through five seasons. Not Bobrovsky-level stats, but good enough to make his non-shutout streak a statistical anomaly.
Credit to Markstrom, but the internet may have actually jinxed this one. Sportsnet's Sean McIndoe (Down Goes Brown) wrote a piece yesterday about the unlikeliness of the streak. Naturally it ends the same day.
