If you’re heading to Rogers Place, let’s get on Jacob Markstrom early

So far in this series, the Flames’ Vezina candidate between the pipes has been anything but special, and rather than giving him the chance to turn things around, I’m thinking that those of us in attendance should try and kick him while he’s down.

Sporting a save percentage of .786, .875, and .882 through the first three games of this series, Jacob Markstrom has been anything but spectacular for the Flames in net, and I believe it’s our duty as fans to try and help to keep it that way. In Game 1 at the Saddledome, Markstrom allowed six goals on 28 shots in a 9-6 victory that was anything but perfect for the Flames. In Game 2, Markstrom saw 40 shots and allowed four straight on a night when the Oilers tagged him with a 5-3 loss. Things didn’t get much better for Markstrom in Game 3 either as he allowed four consecutive goals (again) in the second period and was replaced by Dan Vladar for the final 20 minutes. Needless to say, this series has not gone ol’ Marky’s way and I think it is our duty as Oilers fans to remind him of how he’s doing.

What do I mean? Glad you asked.

What I’m thinking is that everyone heading down to Rogers Place tonight needs to unite as one and get in this guy’s head before the puck even drops. Basically, we need to use our 18,500 voices to let Markstrom know we think he’s been doing a great job and remind him of that fact every single chance we get. I know you all heard the “Jonathan” chants that were relentless in the LA series, and I think it’s time to pull those out again for a guy that felt like signing down the highway was a better idea than suiting up alongside Connor McDavid. We need to use our voices to get into his head and shake him to his very core. We need to make this a horrible night for Jacob Markstrom.

So what can we do? Again, I’m glad you asked.

Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of a few classic goalie chants in our arena and I’m thinking that Game 4 is the perfect time for another round of shenanigans. Whether it was the “Bellllfour” chant all those years ago against Dallas or the “Maaaaany” taunts against Legace in 2006 or the “fiiiiiive hole” chant I started against Martin Jones in 2017, we have a proven history of rattling goalies in our barn and I can think of no better time to get that going than here tonight in a pivotal game that could put us on the brink of the Western Conference Finals. Even if chanting “Jacob” over and over again gives us only a 5% boost or advantage, that is absolutely worth the effort to me and it’s something I really think we need to get on top of from the opening draw.

Seeing as we know the Flames are going to come out buzzing in an effort to bounce back after two horrible games, I truly believe that the hometown crowd could make a real difference to the outcome and I see no better target for our focus than the guy that’s struggled between the pipes. In his last 20 starts against the Edmonton Oilers — regular season or playoffs — the 32-year-old goaltender is sporting a 9-11-0 record with a save percentage of only .883 to go along with a 3.55 goals-against average. Put another way, that’s really bad and I would love nothing more than to see the trend continue, and I truly believe it can with our help.

So what do we do? Obviously, the easy classic would be to bust out the “Jacob” chant over and over again. I don’t know why it’s so funny and fun to repeat a guy’s first name as much as it is but I don’t make the rules — some things never go out of style. If we wanted to get a little more creative, however, why don’t we look at poking holes in the weakness that is his low glove hand over the past three nights? Think about it… how many goals has the guy allowed low on that left-hand side? Four? Five? Regardless of the number, you have to think that having pucks scream past him in the same spot over and over again is on his mind and I would love nothing more than to water that little seed of doubt until it’s a full-blown problem. I mean, could you imagine how tough it would be to focus on preventing glove side goals if 18,000+ are all screaming “low glove, low glove” at you all night? The answer is impossible.

And that’s why I think we need to get on him before the game even starts. So if you’re heading to the game tonight, I beg of you to keep this in mind because we have a very real opportunity in front of us, and I plan on doing anything I can from the stands to help out. See you in the Moss Pit.