Why Wasn’t Jakob Markstrom Pulled: Poor Man Management, or Just Sending a Message?

Last night the New Jersey Devils suffered their worst loss in franchise history after conceding a 9-0 defeat to the New York Islanders, and despite a subpar performance and the team crying out for a change, goalie Jakob Markstrom was never pulled by head coach Sheldon Keefe leaving many fans labelling it a humiliating night for the net minder.

When you see a scoreline as bad as 9-0, you always assume the starting tender probably conceded the first four or five and was eventually pulled, but in this case, Jakob Markstrom felt the wrath of the ongoing Islanders offensive slaughter, but was that a poor decision by Sheldon Keefe? In one sense, you could see it as poor man management, not pulling your goalie when he is clearly out of form and cold is an interesting decision, and leaving him out to dry isn’t exactly the best way to build his confidence back up. However, on the other hand, with how the Devils have been performing recently, there could be a much deeper reason as to why Keefe let Markstrom take all the beating last night.

For New Jersey, a dream season has turned into a nightmare as of recent, and their offense has not been pounding on the door what so ever, even with Jack Hughes back in the frame. Last night simply could have just been a decision to let Markstrom face the punishment, and could have been a way to encourage him to get himself back in gear, but for a coach like Keefe, it looks more like a tactic to get your forward group rolling again.

Leaving Markstrom last night could well have been a way of sending a very blunt message to the offensive guys, and Markstrom may just have been the unfortunate girl guy for that message to be sent. Keefe may have just been trying to say ‘look, if you guys don’t get rolling, your guy in between the posts is going to pay for it.’. Although the offense never gout going last night, it definitely has sent a clear message, that when one group doesn’t give their all, another guy gets punished, a way of bringing the team back together, and a way of making the team the perfect compliment from top to bottom.