Markstrom's Continued Struggles on Home Ice

[SuperMatt18]

Jacob Markstrom is terrible when playing at the Saddledome.

It's one of the weirder things that I've seen in my time of being a Flames fan, but it continues to be a story during Markstrom's time as the Flames starting goalie.

Take a look at Markstrom's home and road splits the past two seasons.

2020-21
Home: .894, -9.87 GSAA
Away: .915, 5.54 GSAA

2021-2022
Home: .907, -1.62 GSAA
Away: .936, 12.55 GSAA

So across two seasons now Markstrom is .898 SV% AND -11.59 GSAA on home ice. That GSAA is the 5th worst in the NHL when looking at home ice performance.

And is .925 and 18.17 GSAA on the road, which is the BEST GSAA in the NHL when looking at road goaltending performance.

He's literally the best goalie in the league on the road, and but becomes a bottom 5 starter in the NHL when playing on Saddledome ice.

You often hear fans talk about how Markstrom has either been elite or poor with little in between during his tenure as a Flames goalie, and that split at this point is actually just the games he plays at home vs. the games he plays on the road.

I don't have a reason for it at this point, but the trend is obvious and seems to be continuing into the 21-22 season.

[Erick Estrada]

How was his record as a Canuck in the Dome vs Vancouver (I'm too lazy to look up)? It's hard to figure out how a goaltender could be so much worse at home but it also has to be taken into account the Flames have simply played better on the road than at home over the past few seasons. They played their best hockey on the eastern road swing.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

How was his record as a Canuck in the Dome vs Vancouver (I'm too lazy to look up)? It's hard to figure out how a goaltender could be so much worse at home but it also has to be taken into account the Flames have simply played better on the road than at home over the past few seasons. They played their best hockey on the eastern road swing.

I was looking at that too for the last two seasons...it's funny how goaltending and shooting percentage can change our perception of how the team is playing because Flames are clearly better on home ice but the goaltending is the biggest difference.

Flames at Home
Point Percentage: .538 (20th)
xGF%: 58.3% (3rd)
xGF/60: 3.1 (8TH)
xGA/60: 2.2 (4TH)

Shots For: 31.8 (10th)
Shots Against: 25.5 (1st)

Save Percentage: .895 (26th)
Shooting Percentage: 9.43 (21st)

Flames on Road
Point Percentage: .520 (16th)
xGF%: 49.5% (11TH)
xGF/60: 2.73 (9th)
xGA/60: 2.79 (16TH)

Shots For/60: 31.6 (6th)
Shots Against/60: 31.2 (15th)

Save Percentage: .912 (7th)
Shooting Percentage: 8.59 (22nd)

There was some talk when he came from Vancouver that Markstrom was better when he was busier and faced more shots...so it could be an issue tha the Flames are the stingest team in the league when it comes to allowing shows on home ice.

[Patek23]

On road this season the Flames average 32.6 SA.

At home the Flames average 25 SA.

It was always said before he even came over that he played better when he was more active. And I think it shows. Many times this season we've seen the Flames limit chances and then on that ONE chance the other team gets a soft one goes in and its a huge back breaker.

I'm not sure what the answer here is as he's clearly an elite goalie. But inactivity for him seems to be kryptonite for him.


edit- SuperMatt beat me to it, Jinx!

[Monahammer]

Perhaps we should favor defensemen that are worse at overall shot suppression but excellent at high-danger scoring area chance suppression.

[Infinit47]

Originally Posted by Flaming Homer

On road this season the Flames average 32.6 SA.

At home the Flames average 25 SA.

It was always said before he even came over that he played better when he was more active. And I think it shows. Many times this season we've seen the Flames limit chances and then on that ONE chance the other team gets a soft one goes in and its a huge back breaker.

I'm not sure what the answer here is as he's clearly an elite goalie. But inactivity for him seems to be kryptonite for him.


edit- SuperMatt beat me to it, Jinx!

I would suggest he is not an elite goalie. a 0.898 save percentage at home is beyond terrible.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Seems like not just a goalie problem but a team wide problem. This team doesn't seem to have much of a home-ice advantage.

[Patek23]

Originally Posted by Infinit47

I would suggest he is not an elite goalie. a 0.898 save percentage at home is beyond terrible.

Even with that terrible home SV% he's still 7th in the league overall (for goalies with over 20GP). He's 6th in GAA. And still leads the league in shutouts.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by Infinit47

I would suggest he is not an elite goalie. a 0.898 save percentage at home is beyond terrible.

0.924 SV% and 2.23 GAA overall.

He’s been really good this year. You can’t cherry pick his bad games (which happen to be at home) and make a statement like that based only on those games. That’s a weak argument IMO.

[Skaloper]

As much as I'd like to question Markstroms play at home the fact that the schedule has been terrible hasn't allowed any sort of consistency. Put in a 3 week break where the entire team got COVID doesn't help. I'm taking last year with a grain of salt due to the fact that again COVID interrupted the ability for fans to attend games.

I've noticed that the Flames feed off the fans more than most teams. As long as they only allow 50% fans we're going to be in for some rough games at home. That being said they are professionals and this shouldn't matter.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by N-E-B

0.924 SV% and 2.23 GAA overall.

He’s been really good this year. You can’t cherry pick his bad games (which happen to be at home) and make a statement like that based only on those games. That’s a weak argument IMO.

The overall trend line is concerning. Need him to finish strong.

[djsFlames]

Against Canadian teams**

[DeluxeMoustache]

Murray Edwards noticed Markstrom plays better away from Calgary. That’s why he’s thinking to move the team

[Mindtravellee]

He can join Mangiapane on the scenic flight and hotel stay before a home game

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

The overall trend line is concerning. Need him to finish strong.

Finish! They have played 12 home games

It's odd since it's mid January and feels like the stretch run is around the corner

[442scotty]

Can’t blame it all on Markstrom. Pretty much the whole team has been playing dog crap at home. Goes back to what Sutter says about playing for each other. The Flames goalies are the last players I’d throw under the bus.

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by 442scotty

Can’t blame it all on Markstrom. Pretty much the whole team has been playing dog crap at home. Goes back to what Sutter says about playing for each other. The Flames goalies are the last players I’d throw under the bus.

And the last time he lost at home and the team scored more than two goals was November 4th against Dallas. Which was one of the games they got boned by officiating in OT.

[midniteowl]

Originally Posted by Mindtravellee

He can join Mangiapane on the scenic flight and hotel stay before a home game

Drive him to Banff the night before a home game, stay there for the night, and drive back on game day. Or have the team stay at Banff over night and drive back on game day.

[Classic_Sniper]

Will the Flames finally give Vladar a home game now?

[Kipper_3434]

Whats his overall stats at the dome though? Last season was a hub was it not?