EDMONTON – Too often this season the Edmonton Oilers have had shoddy goaltending to blame for yet another loss in an increasingly miserable year. But on Wednesday night at Rexall Place, 27-year-old Ben Scrivens provided a brief respite in the most emphatic way possible.
Scrivens, acquired from the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 15, turned in the most spectacular goaltending performance in Oilers history, stonewalling the visiting San Jose Sharks with a record-setting 59 saves, many of them miraculous, in a 3-0 shutout victory.
It’s a new NHL record for saves made in a shutout, breaking the previous high of 54, set by Mike Smith of the Phoenix Coyotes.
“They got some good chances, some good looks,” Scrivens said. “It was one of those nights. I’m very fortunate. Every shutout you get is a team effort, and I know people roll their eyes at that, especially when the shots are a bit lopsided, but it’s the truth.
“Nick Schultz blocked a shot right in the slot with about six minutes left. As a goalie, you know that puck is going in. I knew it. It was a huge block and you don’t get a shutout without a lot of help from the guys in front.”
The previous Oilers record was set by Stanley Cup-winner Bill Ranford, who recorded 56 saves on 59 shots on March 17, 1993.
With the Sharks carrying the play, outshooting the Oilers by 13 after 20 minutes of action, there was a deafening hush from the sold-out crowd of 16,839. Justin Schultz had given Edmonton a 1-0 lead at 10:51, netting his seventh goal and 23rd point of the season, but the slim one-goal edge seemed destined to disintegrate in the brisk, wintry air.
Somehow, it didn’t.
“We could tell on the bench that he was going very early on,” said Oilers centre Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “After a while it became, ‘OK, don’t worry. He’s got this.’ That’s not the way we want to play every night, not by any means, but that was a special night from Scrivvy.
“It wasn’t our best game by any means, but lucky us.”
Indeed.
Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins was stunned by his goalie’s heroics, but did not mince words when asked about the startling discrepancy in shot attempts.
If not for Scrivens, this would have been a blowout — an ugly one at that.
“It was an incredible thing to watch, I’ve never seen it before, and hopefully I won’t have to see it again,” he said. “We were watching Ben play. I’m so happy for Ben and proud of him, but I’m mad at the same time. There’s such a separation in this league between San Jose, Anaheim, St. Louis, Chicago and L.A. and the rest of the teams that we play.
“That’s a hell of a hockey team. But hey, it was one of those nights.”
In the second period, back-to-back glove saves, the latter of which coming hot off the stick of Bracken Kearns, were a sign of things to come.
Patrick Marleau was the latest victim of the period, gawking to the heavens after being denied twice in quick succession; one on a breakaway and the other a well-executed two-on-one rush with Joe Thornton.
But this night was anything but normal.
Standing ovations bookended the period — a suave salute to the goalie in blue — while another came early on in the third after Scrivens came up with an enormous save on Tommy Wingels.
“It was save after save after save,” said Taylor Hall, who scored shortly thereafter, putting the Oilers up 2-0 with a beautiful shot over the sprawling Sharks goalie, Antti Niemi.
“We were trying our best to limit the shots against, but they’re a great team. It was absolutely amazing to watch. We don’t ever want to give up 59 shots, but sometimes a goalie has to stand on his head.
“That’s one of the best goaltending performances I’ve ever seen. Absolutely unreal.”
Jordan Eberle added an insurance marker with 1:20 to play, but the Sharks continued to press. Scott Hannan unleashed a pair of shots late, but Scrivens was there to secure the win on the night of his life.
The product of Spruce Grove, Alta., had more saves through 60 minutes than Ron Tugnutt did back in March of 1991 (58). Incredibly, Tugnutt capped that night, a 3-3 tie with the Boston Bruins, with 70 saves after facing 12 shots in overtime.
“I had an awful, awful warm up. It was a bit of an inauspicious start for me,” Scrivens laughed. “What can I say? It certainly turned out well.”
