The Edmonton Oilers were hopeful that the Olympic break would be just what they needed to turn their season around. While they haven’t been flat-out horrendous this season, they’ve looked like a shell of themselves from the team who went to back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals.
The Oilers entered the Olympic break on a three-game skid, bringing their record to a disappointing 28-22-8. That record was good enough for second place in the Pacific Division, though they have since slipped down to third following a fourth-straight loss on Wednesday to the Anaheim Ducks.
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The Oilers were shot out of a cannon to start Wednesday’s outing, finding themselves up 2-0 less than half way through the first period. The Ducks were able to even things back up, before the Oilers went up by two once again. The Ducks, yet again, tied things up, only for the Oilers to take their third lead of the night at 5-4. This time, it was Beckett Sennecke who was able to tie things up at five, and what happened immediately after was a panic decision from head coach Kris Knoblauch.
Jarry Yanked in Tied Game
Getting the start in last night’s game was Tristan Jarry, who has struggled since being acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins a little over two months ago. There was also optimism that he could reset during the Olympic break, but that certainly wasn’t the case against the Ducks.
Jarry couldn’t come up with the big saves when his team needed them, and gave up a few that simply need to be stopped by an NHL goalie. Sennecke’s goal to tie things up for a third time was the fifth goal Jarry had allowed on just 24 shots, and, despite the game being tied midway through the third, Knoblauch had seen enough.
In a very unusual move given the score, Knoblauch chose to pull Jarry in favour of Connor Ingram. While likely not processing it at the time, it’s a move that may impact the Oilers going forward given the desperation it shows. Pulling Jarry in that situation, especially against a team the Oilers are battling in the standings, shows just how little confidence the coaching staff has in him right now.
“I wasn’t happy with the goaltending,” Knoblauch said postgame. “The goals that we gave up, especially in the third period, I didn’t like those. There [were] other mistakes there, but part of it is you need better goaltending.”
The move put Ingram in a tricky spot, as he was tasked to come in cold in a tie game late in the third period. While he cannot be blamed for the loss, he did give up the game-winning goal to Cutter Gauthier with less than two minutes remaining in regulation.
If it weren’t clear before the Olympic break, last night proved that Jarry’s confidence is very shaken right now. Though one can absolutely understand Knoblauch’s frustration with his play, pulling him in such an embarrassing way may wind up seeing Jarry’s confidence spiral down even further.
The other unusual part of this is that it came in the first half of a back-to-back, as the Oilers will be tasked with taking on the LA Kings Thursday night. Ingram will get the start in that outing, and though he didn’t face many shots on Wednesday, one would prefer he go in completely rested. There’s also the question as to whether or not his confidence took a bit of a blow after giving up a game winner as late as he did.
Coaching Staff Needs to Lead the Way
As many Oilers fans can attest to, this team is very confusing in that while sometimes they are a very resilient group, they also have tendencies, particularly in the regular season, to be fragile when things aren’t going there way. That is par for the course for the vast majority of NHL teams, and when it happens, it’s up to the coaching staff to instill confidence in them.
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On Wednesday night, Knoblauch’s brash decision did the complete opposite. Entering the last portion of the season that the Oilers are in, it’s important that everybody, especially their number-one goalie, is feeling great about their respective game. That evidently isn’t the case right now, and it’s up to Knoblauch to make better decisions in order to try and get them, and in particular Jarry, back on track.
