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Edmonton Oilers goalies have been among very best in NHL

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Nov 12 2026, 12:00 pm
Edmonton Oilers goalies have been among very best in NHL
Perry Nelson/Imagn Images

Have the Edmonton Oilers finally solved their goaltending issues?

It’s been years since the Oilers have had a consistent, solid goaltender between the pipes, but now it appears they may have two on their hands. Both Devon Levi and Tristan Jarry have been lights-out for Edmonton 20 games into the season, and it’s starting to catch the rest of the league’s attention.

Jarry was excellent Wednesday night, stopping 30 of 32 shots in a 3-2 OT victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. That came after an excellent outing by Levi against the New York Rangers on Monday.

It was a rough start to the season after two chaotic games against the Vancouver Canucks, but since then, Levi and Jarry have provided the Oilers with some of the best goaltending in the NHL.

Since October 3, the Oilers hold a team save percentage of .918, which ranks at the top of the league in that span.

“It’s been great. I think goalies are doing their job,” Zach Hyman said after Wednesday’s victory. “They both are playing very well, giving us a chance to win every night, making the saves they need to make.

“I think our structure is making it so the saves are more predictable.”

Matt Tomkins contributed two games to that statistic as well, posting an .888 SV% over two games.

There was some concern over the goaltending going into the season. Jarry was coming off a brutal start to his Oilers tenure last season, while Levi was still very unproven and spent the entirety of last year playing in the AHL. Frederik Andersen was brought in to be a veteran presence, but he has missed the first 20 games with injury.

If you told Edmonton fans that there still wasn’t a clear-cut starting goalie 20 games into the season, the assumption would be that those struggles continued, but it’s the complete opposite. Both Levi and Jarry are playing so well at the same time that the jury is still out on who should be the day-to-day starter.

Jarry says confidence has been the big difference-maker this season.

“I think just confidence that we can do it every night… It doesn’t really matter who is in net; I think we all want to play the same way for the guys,” Jarry said after Wednesday’s victory. “We can’t score goals, so we have to stand back there and do what we can, and I think Devon has done a great job, and Matt did a great job.

“We all have to keep working, and I think that helps a lot.”

Levi seems to have an inside track on landing the everyday starter’s job. When he’s healthy, the Oilers seem to have gone to him more often. Though Jarry has done an excellent job spotting for his tandem partner this season.

The overall stat line shows a very slim margin between the two goalies:

Levi: 8-1-0, .899 SV%, +1.02 GSAx
Jarry: 5-1-3, .907SV%, -0.38 GSAx

Head coach Mike Babcock is happy with what he’s seen from both goaltenders this season, but he says the team in front of them could stand to be a bit better.

“Our goaltending has been way better than we want it to have to be,” Babcock told reporters following the win against the Flyers. “I think our goalies have been good, and I think we’ve played with good structure most nights to not give up a ton.”

It’s hard to critique an Oilers team that is off to a 14-3-3 start to the season. There are some things to clean up, but the fact that goaltending has been so hot this early is definitely something large portions of the Oilers fanbase will be happy about after years of uncertainty.

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