A 7-3 loss at home is ugly. Five goals on 20 shots is even uglier. And when it's happening against the Minnesota Wild — a legitimate Stanley Cup contender who've figured out their systems and are rolling — it stings a little extra.
The Edmonton Oilers just won three consecutive games for the first time this season. They finally got over that mental hump, found some consistency, and started to look like the team everyone expected them to be. Then Minnesota showed up and reminded them they've still got work to do.
Tristan Jarry took the loss. He gave up five goals on 20 shots before getting pulled. The numbers are bad. The performance was worse. Let's not sugarcoat it — Jarry played poorly. He'd want some of those saves back. When your team needs a big stop, and you're letting in goals on a 25% save percentage, that's a problem.
But does that mean Oilers fans should send the firing squad down his driveway? Probably not. It's not trade-for-a-new-goalie-immediately territory. It's just a bad game.
Jarry knows it wasn't good enough.
"It's tough," Jarry said. "The chances we are giving up, some of the shots, they're tough. It's a lot of Grade A's, a lot of breakdowns. So I think it's tough (for him) to really think about your game at this point. It's a whole team game."
He's not wrong about the team's role in this. Minnesota's a well-oiled machine. They don't need many chances to score, and when the Oilers give them high-danger opportunities — breakaways, odd-man rushes, clean looks in the slot — they're going to capitalize. That's what good teams do.
But Jarry still has to make saves. And tonight, he didn't. Some of those goals were tough. Some weren't. When you're giving up five on 20, you're not helping your team stay in the game.
The Oilers gave Minnesota too much. They took risks that didn't pay off. They turned the puck over in bad spots. They got caught trying to play fast and loose, and the Wild made them pay every single time.
Jarry acknowledged the team's approach played a role.
"We were just on the wrong side of it tonight. There's obviously a lot of goals that went in," Jarry said. "Everyone knows when we play the game that we want to put on the ice, that will put us on the better side of things. But to be on that side, we just have to tighten up and eliminate some of the chances."
That's the balance the Oilers are trying to find. They want to play fast. They want to attack. They want to spend time in the offensive zone and create chances. But when they get reckless with the puck, when they cheat for offence and get caught, teams like Minnesota will punish them.
"We want to play fast, we want to play up, we want to play in their end. When we're taking some of those chances, they come back at us, and it's tough. We just have to make sure we're managing the puck a little bit better," Jarry added.
Puck management. It sounds simple, but it's the difference between controlling a game and watching it spiral. The Oilers turned pucks over in neutral ice. They forced plays that weren't there. They gave Minnesota transition opportunities, and the Wild converted. Jarry didn't bail them out.
That's the reality. Jarry had a bad night. The team in front of him wasn't great either, but goalies are supposed to steal games sometimes, or at least keep their team in it. Tonight, Jarry did neither.
So does this mean Oilers fans should grab pitchforks and demand changes? No. Jarry's had a rough stretch, but it's not panic time yet. One bad game doesn't mean he's finished. It just means he needs to be better.
That said, hearing that Jesper Wallstedt could be available at the trade deadline is enticing. The Oilers could have had him. They didn't. And now he's developing into exactly the kind of goaltender teams covet — young, talented, with upside.
But patience, at the end of the day, is a virtue. Jarry's had solid games. He's capable of being better than this. He just needs to actually do it.
One bad game against a Cup contender doesn't mean it's time to blow everything up. This loss hurts, but it's also a reminder of what they need to fix — and that includes getting better goaltending when it matters.
Minnesota's talented. They exposed weaknesses in the Oilers' structure and capitalized on every mistake. Jarry didn't help. That's the truth.
He'll get another chance. Hopefully, next time, he's better.
Bookmark The Hockey News Edmonton Oilers team site to never miss the latest news, game-day coverage, and more. Add us to your Google News favourites, and never miss a story.