Don’t look now, but the Edmonton Oilers suddenly have good goaltending to go along with their potent offensive attack.
Tristan Jarry was stellar in net on Wednesday with 30 saves against the Philadelphia Flyers. Evan Bouchard scored the overtime winner and added an assist, and Zach Hyman scored a pair of goals to help the Oilers win their third in a row, beating the Flyers 3-2.
Edmonton matched its second-best start in franchise history through 20 games, following 1983-84 (16-3-1, 33 points) and 1984-85 (14-3-3, 31 points), both Stanley Cup-winning seasons.
It was the second consecutive game an Oilers goalie arguably stole the contest for his team, as Devon Levi stood on his head with 28 saves and the Oilers held on to defeat the New York Rangers 3-1 on Monday.
“The guys obviously did a good job with rebounds. A lot of the bulk of the shots were just straight on, and I was able to see a lot of them,” Jarry said of Wednesday’s win.
Ever since each goaltender had tough outings in Edmonton’s first two games against Vancouver, Oilers goaltenders now own an NHL-best .918 save percentage since Oct. 3.
“It’s been great,” Hyman said. “The goalies are doing their jobs. They’ve both been playing really well and giving us a chance to win every night and making the saves they need to make.”
Jarry entered the game with a .923 save percentage and a 2.10 goals-against average with two shutouts in seven starts. Meanwhile, Levi is 7-1-0 with a 2.23 GAA and .920 save percentage over his last eight starts.
“Just pushing each other, keeping each other sharp and getting the best practices that you can. So when you do get called upon, you’re ready,” Jarry said.
Oilers goalie Levi boosting team’s confidence in their crease
The Oilers still have a very good third option waiting in the wings, too. Veteran Frederik Andersen, who helped Carolina win the Stanley Cup last year, is expected to be ready to play early in the new year following an injury suffered in training this summer.
Although the Oilers haven’t been at their best outside of the men in the crease the last couple of games, they still managed to win both outings.
“You never complain about wins,” Hyman said. “Wins are hard to come by in this league. Every team, it doesn’t matter where they are, the margins are so thin. New York played us really hard. Philly played us really hard.
“Those are teams that are maybe not at the top of the standings, but they are well-coached, are well-structured and they play hard. Every game you want to have your best, but over the course of 84 [games] if you’re able to grind out games and get great goaltending and play hard and just do the right things, you can win games like that.”
Just 47 seconds into overtime, Leon Draisaitl sent a backhand pass across to Bouchard, who blasted in a one-timer for his 11th of the season, tops amongst defencemen.
The trio of Connor McDavid (49 points), Draisaitl (37) and Bouchard (33) were the top three scorers in the NHL by Wednesday’s end, tying the 1988-89 Kings for the fifth-most points by a trio through the team’s first 20 games of a season.
“It’s hard to shut them down, I’ve seen these guys and coached against them,” said Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet.
“They’re incredible players. You can keep them in check for so long and then they go and score the overtime goal. That’s who they are, they’re great players.”
Journeyman goalie Matt Tomkins stellar for hometown Oilers in 7th NHL start
Only Bobby Orr has had more points by a defenceman in the first 20 games of a season than Bouchard.
McDavid picked up an assist in the second period to extend his season-starting points streak to 20 games, tying his career high and becoming the eighth player in NHL history to post multiple 20-game streaks.
The Oilers captain became just the fourth player in league annals to post a season-opening 20-game point streak.
Edmonton is now 12-0-2 when scoring first this season.
