Oilers fans call for player to be traded immediately after loss vs. Capitals
Photo credit: Edmonton Oilers Raw
The Edmonton Oilers dropped another game by a score of 7-4 to the Washington Capitals, and fans have seen enough of the current goaltending tandem.
The Oilers offence actually had a rare good game, but their defence was still leaky - and their goaltending couldn't give them one extra save.
After the game, plenty of fans are calling for an *immediate* change in goaltending - but the team and media still deflect blame away from the crease.
Oilers and Edmonton media point to poor defence for another loss
Speaking after the game, every Oiler pointed to their defensive play, and how it's a hard task to win while giving up so much defensively.
KNOBLAUCH: We're pushing hard. Not necessarily liking the defensive details of our game, but they're pushing.
We don't give Stu much help. You look at these nights where Stu's given up a lot of goals, and you're thinking it's on goaltending. But we're not making the game easy for him.
NURSE: It's tough to win games when you're giving up 5. We've got to clean up defensively and keep the puck out of our net. We've got to help out our goalie there.
We don't give Stu much help. You look at these nights where Stu's given up a lot of goals, and you're thinking it's on goaltending. But we're not making the game easy for him.
NURSE: It's tough to win games when you're giving up 5. We've got to clean up defensively and keep the puck out of our net. We've got to help out our goalie there.
Oilers analysts at the Cult of Hockey praised Skinner's .737 save percentage effort tonight, saying he had little chance on any goals he surrendered and highlighted a few of his stops.
These are all just still excuses.
He gave his team a chance to win, but failed to steal a win. He popped out the tastiest of choice cuts of rebound on the first Caps goal. He had little chance on Ovechkin's tipped in goal as the Hockey Gords aren't smiling on the Oilers just now. Huge stop on Duhaime's slotter, then on Milano, Frank's break-in, a Carlson cross-seam strike and a Sourdif slotter, all with the score 3-2. But after that solid streak, got beat on Leonard's breakaway, one of four Oilers to lose battles on that one. Little chance on the fifth goal against.
- Cult of Hockey
- Cult of Hockey
Going off this analysis, you'd think every NHL goalie gives up 10 goals a game. Sure, Skinner made a few saves - but he's still giving up far too much that the Oilers just can't allow.
Eventually, the Oilers are going to need a goalie to make a save on a chance they're 'not supposed to have'. Because really, that's the job of a goaltender. The Oilers see the opposition do it to them almost every game.
The defence is struggling too, that's a fair point, but that strengthens the case for a new goaltender. Edmonton could try to rebuild their entire blue line, or add a significant upgrade to the last line of defence.
The Oilers are 32nd out of 32 teams in their team save percentage. Usually, teams who are aiming to win the Stanley Cup don't have the worst goaltending in the NHL. It's probably demoralizing to the players.
While the coaches, players, and media still make excuses for the Oilers netminders, fans are out of patience. Many are demanding an immediate move with the goalies to stop their slide down the standings.
It feels unlikely the Oilers will do anything about the goaltending now after defending it relentlessly for the last two seasons. But things may finally reach a break point if the team is still out of a playoff spot in a few more weeks.
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