“I wasn’t happy with the goaltending, especially in the third period. It wasn’t his best game,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said when talking about Tristan Jarry's game on Wednesday night. Already tired by the late start, the Edmonton Oilers took on the Anaheim Ducks in an entertaining but stressful matchup that left the fan base emotionally drained as well.

Jarry was pulled in a 6-5 loss, and the way things ended, many will wonder whether something bigger is simmering beneath the surface.

This was more of the same thing that plagued Edmonton going into the Olympic break. Goals against are crippling this team's chances of success. Against the Ducks, the point that something has to give was hammered home.

The Oilers looked poised to take control early in the third period. After a strong push late in the second, Edmonton should have the game in hand. But defensive breakdowns and shaky goaltending quickly flipped the script in the final 20 minutes.

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The 4–2 lead quickly became 4-3. Then the Ducks scored again to tie it, exposing issues in front of the net. Fortunately, one of the team's better players on this night, Matt Savoie, capitalized to restore the Oilers’ lead at 5–4. It didn't last.

Just 46 seconds later, Anaheim answered. A clean look where Darnell Nurse became a bit of a moving screen, Tristan Jarry got beat five-hole. It was the type of goal teams simply can’t afford in that moment. And head Knoblauch had seen enough.

With three goals on five shots in the third, Knoblauch pulled Tristan Jarry. It was a decisive move — and one that suggests there are real trust issues afoot. As Ryan Rishaug said on Got Yer' Back, it was the kind of decision that screamed, 'We need to stop a goal, and I don't think you're the guy who can do it in the final minutes.' Connor Ingram came in. He didn't allow another one until the final 1:14. The Oilers couldn't score a sixth goal and wound up losing.

Ingram will likely go on Thursday night versus the Los Angeles Kings and questions about what to do with Jarry will be everywhere.

Jarry now sits at an .863 save percentage through 12 games with Edmonton. While not every goal was solely on him, this was a night where the Oilers needed a timely stop in the third period. They didn’t get one. When asked after the game about his performance, all Jarry could do was find different ways of saying the same thing: he needed to make at least one more stop. "Being better from that and just keep working," he noted. He was aware that this situation isn't ideal. He made some pretty good saves, but as the game went back and forth, "If I make an extra save here or there, the game could be different."

Typically, a goalie pull is used to spark a team or when a club is down several goals and needs a wake-up call. This pull was done because the coach was sending a message to his netminder. Jarry was not good, but the decision to make a goalie change in that situation isn’t routine.

Whether that message was about accountability, urgency, or simply trying to salvage two points, it’s hard not to wonder what it says about the coaching staff’s confidence level right now.

It should be pointed out that the defensive structure was far from perfect. Beyond the Mattias Ekholm-Evan Bouchard pairing, the back end was not good. Nurse and Walman continue to struggle as a pairing, and the forwards are not doing a good enough job helping out. Given this was Paul Coffey's return to the bench, it was not a good first start in what many are calling a new mini-season after the Olympic break.

The Oilers squandered a winnable game. The bigger question now isn’t just about one loss — it’s whether this moment represents a turning point in the relationship between coach and goalie.

Is tension beginning to brew?

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