Goalie drama is baked into every playoff series involving the Edmonton Oilers. The team’s never-ending search for consistent goaltending usually overshadows what’s happening in the opposite crease.
That was the case again until Tuesday, when the Oilers chased Ducks starter Lukas Dostal after scoring three goals on nine shots in the opening 10:13 of Game 5. Dostal, who has allowed 3.6 goals above expected against the Oilers, has been the worst-performing goaltender in the playoffs by that metric. Only two of his five starts — Games 2 and 4 — qualify as quality starts. In the regular season, Dostal saved more goals than expected in 36 of his 55 starts (65.5 per cent).
Ducks coach Joel Quenneville told reporters after the team’s 4-1 loss Tuesday that “everybody” was to blame for Dostal’s bad start. He also expressed no concern about Dostal’s readiness.
“We’re moving forward,” Quenneville said when asked if he would consider a change in net for Game 6 on Thursday.
The Oilers have had success targeting Dostal’s glove hand in the series. They have scored 13 of their 18 goals against Dostal on his glove side — eight high (44.4 per cent) and five low (27.8 per cent).
Those figures are much higher than they were in the regular season, where 36.7 per cent of Dostal’s total goals against were high glove and 12.4 per cent were low glove. Dostal has had clean looks at most of his glove-side goals against, as just two of them have come on screened shots.
Dostal’s .714 save percentage on shots aimed at his high glove (20/28) is the worst out of the 15 goaltenders who have played at least four playoff games. Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy is second from the bottom with a save percentage of .759 on those shots (22/29).
The Ducks were one of the NHL’s leakiest defences during the regular season, and that has carried over into the playoffs. Dostal has faced 8.16 inner-slot shots on net per 60 minutes — third most among the 15 qualified goaltenders. As a result of those defensive issues, Dostal has given up 11 inner-slot goals and stopped a playoff-worst 67.6 per cent of those shots — down from 79.2 per cent in the regular season.
Oilers forward Kasperi Kapanen leads the team with three inner-slot goals, including the game-opening goal on Edmonton’s first shot in Game 4. Dostal also allowed a goal to forward Vasily Podkolzin on the Oilers’ first shot Tuesday, the league-worst 12th time this season that he has been beaten by the first shot he faced. No other goaltender has allowed more than seven first-shot goals this season. (The Ducks have won seven of the 12 games in which Dostal has surrendered such a goal, including Game 4 of this series.)
“I think we know the importance of goaltending, and I think everybody has stretches where you’re great and other stretches where you’re just OK,” Quenneville told reporters before Game 4. “And I think as a team, I think we’re all in this together. And what’s in front of (Dostal), we can help him out in that area. We expect that goaltending is something that’s a team thing. And we can all improve in that area.”
Anaheim has overcome Dostal’s struggles by providing him with plenty of goal support. The Ducks have scored 4.8 goals per 60 minutes when Dostal has been in net, most among qualified goaltenders. Oilers goaltender Connor Ingram is right behind Dostal at 4.02 goals per 60 minutes, and he has also needed the help. Ingram is 14th out of the 15 goaltenders in goals saved above expected.
After Ingram allowed 14 goals (3.03 more than expected) in his first three starts versus Anaheim, Edmonton turned to Tristan Jarry, who did not fare much better in Game 4. On Tuesday, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch did not hesitate to call on Ingram, who saved 1.69 goals above expected in an elimination game. Ingram will try to replicate that performance Thursday as the Oilers attempt to force a Game 7.
“When we’re (facing elimination), most likely you’re going to go back with your starter, the guy (who’s) been carrying the load for the last few weeks,” Knoblauch told reporters after Game 5. “I thought it was an (easy) decision.”
All stats via Sportlogiq
