As soon as some of my colleagues and fellow fans uttered the phrase, “Is this the best Edmonton Oilers goaltending since…” Tristan Jarry has looked suspicious. Sorry Bordzy.

We remember the Edmonton Oilers back-to-back shutouts from Jarry and Connor Ingram on January 17 and 18.

In the six games since, the Oilers’ have surrendered 27 goals against.

Said another way, that’s a 4.50 goals against average, which is really boosted by the hapless offensive effort by the New Jersey Devils. That would make it a 5.00 goals against in their last five games.

In those games, they’ve gone 3-3, with heroic comebacks, excitement galore, and goals, goals, goals.

After accomplishing the arduous task of winning three games in a row, Edmonton surrendered a total of 21 High Danger Chances Against in the Wild loss 7-3 on Saturday, a loss that shines a harsh spotlight on the team’s flaws.

This season in particular seems to take the silly to a new level.

The goaltending has been a little worse in these six games, but the Oilers’ habit of going asleep for long stretches of the game, turning over pucks, leaving prized areas of the ice unchecked, is the big difference from that weekend of back-to-back bagels to what we’ve seen of late.

“It’s tough,” said Jarry after the game, who let in a couple of softies, and was yanked after the fifth goal against.

“The chances we are giving up, some of the shots, they’re tough. It’s a lot of Grade As, a lot of breakdowns. So, I think it’s tough to really think about the game at this point. It’s a whole team game.”

After a stretch of NHL record defensive scoring, excitement, then utter disappointment, it seems reasonable to ask – what is this team?

A breakdown

There’s a lot of social media discourse still about Stuart Skinner, especially because he’s riding his usual January hot streak with Pittsburgh.

It could be me just being late to the party, now following more fervently hockey Twitter and such when taking this job, but some of the parasocial relationships........

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