Goalie? What new goalie?

By the five-minute mark of the third period Saturday, with Edmonton’s offence firing bullets and the Toronto Maple Leafs having spent most of the night bleeding out, Oilers goaltending was an afterthought.

And that’s a good thing. On all fronts.

There were no complaints on the netminding front and there was too much going on at the other end for it to matter.

In other words, Tristan Jarry’s Edmonton debut went exactly how the Oilers drew it up — with the newly-acquired netminder demonstrating his worth with some key saves and the team around him playing brilliantly in a 6-3 whipping of the hometown Leafs.

“Great way to start a road trip, great way to keep momentum going and great way to get new guys involved,” said Oilers winger Zach Hyman. “I thought Jars was extremely solid, made tons of saves, especially early on.

“I turned one over and it was one of those where you’re saying, ‘Please make a save!’ You don’t want to be the one turning it over and getting scored on. He bailed me out and bailed a bunch of guys out early.”

Two things you need to do when breaking in a new goalie are limit high-danger chances and generate run support. Nothing makes a keeper more comfortable than a lot of perimeter shots and a two- or three-goal lead.

Give or take the odd lapse, that’s the environment the Oilers provided for the new guy as they continue what looks like the start of another mid-season charge. They are 4-0-1 in their last five games, with 28 goals in that span.

“Jars made some big saves at key moments for us and we were able to capitalize on the opportunities that came our way,” said defenceman Darnell Nurse. “It was not an easy situation for him to come in and join the group and have to play a big game the next day. He came in and fit in seamlessly.”

Jarry, still wearing his Pittsburgh Penguins mask after the quick turnaround, but breaking in a new set of Oilers pads, stopped 25 of 28 shots on a night when Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl posted three-point nights and Vasily Podkolzin scored his third and fourth goals in the last five games.

“Any time you add somebody to the team it adds a little excitement, a little juice,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Overall I thought we played well and then Leon and Connor took over. Connor early in the game, Leon in the second half. They were a great one-two punch.”

McDavid had two goals and an assist in the first period and a half, and Draisaitl had his three assists in a 2:26 span late in the second and early in the third. When both of Edmonton’s big dogs are hunting like that, there isn’t much the other team can do, so the Leafs had no real option but to take the loss and hope it get too out of hand.

“When you have two of the best players in the world they can take over games,” said Hyman. “And obviously they did.”

Jarry’s night earned a passing grade, although he gave up a bad rebound on Toronto’s first goal and was a little slow getting across the crease on Toronto’s third goal, which made it 6-3 late in garbage time.

It was also his first taste of the challenges he’ll be facing on occasion in Edmonton. Evan Bouchard could have easily broken up the play on the first goal, but he didn’t think to tie up Easton Cowan in front of the net. And on Toronto’s second goal, the Oilers were chasing around their own end, leaving the Leafs with a pair of wide-open shots from the slot. Jarry stopped the first, but the second one went in.

Beyond that, Jarry and the Oilers were too much for the Leafs.

“That was the biggest thing, to settle in as quick as possible and play my game and be sound for them,” said Jarry. “And they did a great job possessing the puck, back checking, holding onto the puck, and that led to a lot of opportunities for us.”

McWOW

McDavid now has 15 points in the last five games and even though the Leafs lost, he provided the fans with their money’s worth, turning on the jets with a ridiculous burst of speed and turning a one-on-three into a breakaway. It was one of those goals you’ll be watching on highlight packages years from now and it brought an audible gasp from the fans in Toronto.

“You go to buildings in the east where they don’t see him all the time and that happens,” said Nurse. “He’s a special player. Moments like that, it doesn’t matter who you cheer for — as a hockey fan it’s cool to see.”

Even the new guy had to shake his head.

“It’s special,” said Jarry. “Standing on the other side of it for a lot of years you kind of know what to expect, but being on the right side of it you appreciate it a lot.”

E-mail: rtychkowski@postmedia.com