This in from Tony Brar of Oilers TV, news that Connor Ingram will get his third straight start for the Edmonton Oilers, in net tonight against the Calgary Flames.
Ingram
My take
1. This move makes sense. It’s the right way for the Oilers go.
With Tristan Jarry out with a groin injury for “a few weeks,” as the Oilers put it, Edmonton has a window to see what else they have in net. The Oilers already know what they have in Calvin Pickard, who hasn’t been a starting goalie in the NHL in a decade, but is an adequate back-up so long as your starting goalie is both high-performing and durable. The Oilers don’t know what they’ve got in Ingram.
2. There’s no use playing Pickard in a bunch of games now. He’s not a starting goalie in the NHL, not with his record and not with his poor play this year. Pickard has played better in recent games but he’s got the second worst save percentage of any regular goalie in the NHL this year, .861 in 13 games, ahead of only struggling Sam Montembeault of the Montreal Canadiens, .857 in 15 games.
3. Ingram has a .920 save percentage and two wins in his first two Oilers starts. Indeed, the Oilers are 5-0 in games where either he or Jarry have started. Both of them have better agility than Stuart Skinner, who has struggled in Pittsburgh to date with an .831 save percentage in three games.
goalies
4. Ingram played poorly in the AHL this year for Bakersfield, but he was a decent-to-good NHL starting goalie for Arizona in 2022-23 and 2023-24, a .907 save percentage in both years.
Do you know how many games the Oilers would have won if their goalies Skinner and Pickard had had a combined .907 save percentage?
The duo were a combined .884. If they’d made ten more saves in their 31 games as a tandem, Edmonton would likely have a comfortable hold on first place in the Pacific Division.
Of course, not all the blame for Edmonton’s rancid defensive performance is on the goalies. Almost every player on the team was poor defensively in the first six weeks of the season. But Skinner and Pickard also had their issues.
5. What goes for Ingram in Edmonton also goes for Connor Ungar in Bakersfield. Bako should play the hell out of Ungar, 24, in Ingram’s absence. Ungar crushed it in the ECHL this year and kept up that streak of excellent in his first AHL game. The Oilers need to see what they have in Ungar, see if worst comes to worst they might even have another goalie option for the Oilers in him this season.
At the Cult of Hockey
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