EDMONTON — After three months of trying to find goaltenders they could rely on, the Edmonton Oilers appear to have solved the problem with the recent additions of Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram.
Acquired from Utah last fall, Ingram arrived in Edmonton as an unknown to the Oilers when he was recalled from Bakersfield to replace injured Jarry shortly after the latter was obtained in a goalie trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sharing the work, the two goaltenders have allowed three goals in their last four games and posted back-to-back shutouts last weekend.
“Both guys came in and played really well, and they give us a chance to win every night,” Connor McDavid said after Wednesday’s practice.
“To have two goalies who can play, it’s exciting. But the team is playing better, a little more solidly I would say, which helps. The work of the goalkeepers follows that of the team. There was obviously room for improvement and they achieved it,” added the Oilers captain.
The performance of Jarry and Ingram had the effect of relegating Calvin Pickard to the background. While he was battling with Stuart Skinner – the latter was traded to the Penguins for Jarry – for the number one goaltender position, Pickard now spends several game nights in the press box.
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said he won’t rush into making a goaltending decision until he’s satisfied Jarry has fully recovered from his injury.
“I think any good team needs multiple goalies and we all play well… The rotation between the three of us has worked very well,” said Jarry, who missed nearly a month with a groin injury.
“Obviously, since I was injured, they played the majority of the games and did very well. When you have three goalkeepers who can come in and win games, I think it can only help the team. »
Ingram has been exceptional since his arrival in mid-December. He has only conceded six goals in his last five matches (3-1-1). His save percentage with the Oilers is .917 with an average of 2.22 goals against.
“I’m lucky to be in a good situation, where they’re happy to have me and I’m happy to be here,” he said.
“I just try to prove in every match that I belong here. The group welcomed me, the coaches were great, the system is pretty similar to Nashville (where he played for a season), so the transition was smooth.
“But it’s a big change to play with a group of new teammates, trying to figure out how they’re going to behave on the ice and proving that they can trust me. It’s a lot, but it’s going very well. »
But despite Jarry and Ingram’s excellent performances recently, the Oilers still can’t win three straight games. They have outscored their opponents 12-3 in the last four games, recorded two shutouts and still only have two wins under their belt.
They posted clean wins, 6-0 and 5-0, against weak Western Conference teams, but lost close games to competitive Eastern teams, 1-0 to the New York Islanders and 2-1 to the New Jersey Devils.
Losing to the Islanders and Devils marked the eighth and ninth time this season the Oilers failed to string together three straight wins, which leaves Knoblauch perplexed.
“I don’t think I have an answer to that,” Knoblauch said after the Devils game.
“When you think about the games we lost, it could be due to bad penalties, bad goalkeeping, bad defending, or just the inability to score goals. The Islanders game was probably one of our best games of the season, but the goaltender stole it from us. Early in the season, against (Wild of) Minnesota, we got beat 1-0 and I think it was one of our best games of the season. But there were other times when we were not present from the start of the match, if at all. »
The Oilers will host the Penguins on Thursday night in what will be their third of eight home games.
