[DeluxeMoustache]

This argument about fatigue being a factor is something I’m not buying.

First off, Markstrom said he felt good, wasn’t fatigued and wanted to be playing. Yeah, yeah, what else is he going to say, right? I believe him

I don’t believe the common wisdom about an ideal workload for goalies.

Martin Brodeur played over 70 games a year from 1996 through 2006, won 3 cups, and the guy had a .919 career playoff sv%.

People point to Kipper playing 38 games the year they went deep. Sure. Then he played over 70 several times, including the following 2 seasons, where he put up playoff sv% of .921 and .929. The team didn’t lose 3-0 in game 7 vs Anaheim because Kipper was tired. The team didn’t lose 2-1 in double OT to Detroit because of goaltending. They were *in* that series because of goaltending

People love to say that the ideal workload for a goaltender is 55-60 games. I think it’s an ideal situation to have a backup that plays well enough that you can trust him for 25-30 starts, more so than that you need one for the starter

Look, in this case, it was a lot of fire wagon hockey. Markstrom was not good enough. But he was not as bad as his numbers look.

The first game, yeah, he got beaten glove side three times pretty badly. His positioning wasn’t great and he looked small but the shots were like the knife thrower at the county fair. They found smell spaces. It didn’t really cost the team in the end.

Given quality of chances, especially in games 2 and 3, I think he was not at fault for many of the goals. He made a lot of big saves. The Flames D was shredded without Tanev, leading to far too many 10 bellers

They gave up a couple of breakaways on team errors, they gave up some rushes that turned in to pretty easy 2 on 1 tap ins, and they just didn’t win some crease battles, which I think they may have if not for dislocated shoulders and broken ribs.

But as game 4 and 5 came about, I think that he and everyone else expected the Oil to get 4 plus goals, and I think they got in his head a bit.

You can’t argue about the cough up 21 seconds in. That’s a killer. And the OT winner by McDavid was a pretty stoppable shot, at least 90 times out of a hundred.

I also think the writing was on the wall after the call on Coleman. You should be allowed to just win a game, not have it called back and be forced to win a second time.

I just don’t buy physical fatigue being an issue.

Markstrom was not good enough. The team was not good enough. He wasn’t as bad as his stats imply, due to team play.

This all simply makes sense without making stuff up about him being overplayed or fatigued.