The goaltending malaise continues for the Edmonton Oilers.
Even after the long Olympic break, the Oilers’ major problem between the pipes showed up again on Wednesday night, as they suffered a 6-5 loss to the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center, Calif.
Jack Roslovic and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in the opening period to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead, but Tristan Jarry allowed back-to-back goals to Anaheim, which tied it at 2-2 with an Alex Killorn power-play score three minutes into the second frame.
It all went downhill for Edmonton from there, as the Ducks scored four of the game’s final five goals. Jarry surrendered five of Anaheim’s goals despite facing only 25 shots.
It was a performance that did not earn Jarry more fans, let alone the approval of head coach Kris Knoblauch, who pulled the netminder after Anaheim’s third goal in the third period.
“Obviously, I wasn’t happy with the goaltending,” Knoblauch said following the game, via Mark Spector of Sportsnet. “The goals that we gave up, especially in the third period. I didn’t like those.”
There were other mistakes there, but you need better goaltending,” Knoblauch added. “Tonight wasn’t one of (Jarrry’s) best games.”
It was another wasted effort for Edmonton’s offense, which got 2 assists from Connor McDavid. Scoring five goals should have been more than enough to win a game in the NHL, but apparently not on Wednesday for the Oilers, who have now lost four games in a row, dating back to before the Olympic break. Over that stretch, they gave up 22 goals.
The 28-23-8 Edmonton will try to end their skid again on Thursday against the Los Angeles Kings at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif.
