Oilers goalies rank dead-last in this important advanced stat
It’s starting to get ugly for the Edmonton Oilers.
After last night’s disheartening 7-4 loss to the Minnesota Wild, the team is now 1-4-1 with just three points in their first six games of the season.
This has the suspected Stanley Cup favourites second last in the Pacific Division and already 11 points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the division lead.
There are a variety of reasons for this early-season failure, but chief among them is goaltending. The Oilers tandem of Jack Campbell and Stuart Skinner have not played to the level that a Stanley Cup contender requires and it’s costing the team valuable points early in the season.
Campbell and Skinner have combined for the worst high-danger save percentage (.605) in the NHL at five-on-five. The next closest team is the Pittsburgh Penguins at .706.
Analytics website Moneypuck.com currently has Campbell at 58th among goaltenders in goals saved above expected at -2.1. Skinner is 65th, ahead of only Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov, at -5.1.
Hartzy on the rebound for another lighting of the lamp šØ#mnwild pic.twitter.com/VRgnFUIq9e
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 25, 2023
The defensive play in front of Edmonton’s goaltenders hasn’t been bad, according to the analytics. Natural Stat Trick has the Oilers ninth in the NHL in high-danger chances-for percentage (HDCF%) at 54.05.
They’ve given up 68 high-danger chances against, which is the 13th-least allowed in the league so far.
The problem is that both Campbell and Skinner are allowing what little chances they do face into the net.
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— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 22, 2023
Although it is still early, goaltending has been one of the driving factors behind Edmonton’s nightmarish start to the season.
Oilers GM Ken Holland could have pursued an upgrade in net over the summer but opted to run it back with the same tandem. Skinner had a good rookie season, finishing second in Calder Trophy voting, and Campbell did show well in his limited playoff time. Right now, however, neither goalie is doing enough to help them win games.
It will be interesting to see how much rope the team gives the tandem before something is done.