The Oilers averaged four goals against in their three games after the Olympics. Going into Friday's NHL trade deadline, don't expect the team to find yet another goaltender, however.
Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman is not solely pointing the finger at the goalies after the team conceded 12 goals in three games coming out of the Olympic break.
The Oilers only picked up two points in the three-game stretch, coming via an 8-1 thrashing of the Los Angeles Kings. They also lost 6-5 to the Anaheim Ducks and 5-4 to the San Jose Sharks.
But the new goaltending duo of Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram is not expected to change, following the team trading Stuart Skinner and waiving Calvin Pickard earlier this season.
"We haven't played well defensively as a team," Bowman said. "There are many contributing factors that include forwards, defense and goaltending. Until we learn as a team to be smarter in how we approach the game, there will be highs and lows. I think that is a mentality shift. We have seen it in spurts, but not consistently enough."
Jarry has an .864 save percentage and 3.85 goals-against average in 12 games since Edmonton acquired him from the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ingram, meanwhile, has an .894 SP and 2.75 GAA since the Oilers called him up from AHL Bakersfield in late December.
While the Jarry and Ingram tandem hasn't been the fix-all solution in net, Bowman said the need is for everyone in an Oilers uniform to step up in their own end of the ice.
That focus on internal improvement ties over to part of the team's focus as it battles for the top spot in the Pacific Division. But with the Oilers far from secured in their playoff positioning and the trade deadline coming up on Friday, this team is setting itself up cap-wise to be active.
"We'll be able to do some things," Bowman said. "Like I said, it would be nice to bring a player or two in, I think, but also, the biggest way we're going to be a better team is, we have a lot of good players here. It's a talented group. I think there's more from within. That's probably we're going to become a better team."
The Oilers did clear some cap space on Monday when Andrew Mangiapane and Alec Regula cleared NHL waivers.
Mangiapane has a $3.6-million cap hit on a two-year contract, but he only has 14 points in 52 NHL games this season.
Bowman said assigning Mangiapane to the minors is for cap purposes. Only $2.45 million of his cap hit counts toward the Oilers' overall cap hit while he's in the AHL, according to PuckPedia.
There could be some trade action shortly as well. Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported talks are intensifying between the Oilers and the Chicago Blackhawks regarding defenseman Connor Murphy, who is a pending UFA.
Edmonton sits third in the Pacific Division with 66 points, four back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot. Vegas has a game in hand, and the Ducks, which rank second with 69 points, have two games in hand on the Oilers.
With only one game to go before the deadline, Bowman's moves this year might be the most critical of his tenure as the Oilers look to go one step further after back-to-back Cup final misses.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.