Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said something that usually wouldn’t merit a second thought.
“Right now, we are going to be playing the best goalie who (gives) us the best chance of winning each night,” Knoblauch told reporters on Sunday morning.
But this being Edmonton, where nothing about goaltending is ordinary, Knoblauch’s comment a few moments later drew attention.
“Connor (Ingram) is our starting goalie,” Knoblauch told reporters. “He will be getting the majority of the starts as of now until something changes.”
It was supposed to be Tristan Jarry starting critical games for the Oilers, who traded for him in December under the premise that he was an upgrade over Stuart Skinner.
Instead, it has backfired spectacularly. Jarry, who allowed a career-worst seven goals against the Dallas Stars in his most recent start, has been the NHL’s worst goaltender over the past three months.
Jarry’s unexpectedly hot start for the Pittsburgh Penguins appears to have fooled Oilers general manager Stan Bowman. Before the deal, Jarry, who spent a portion of last season in the minors, had saved 11.9 goals above expected and made 11 quality starts in 13 tries (84.6 per cent).
But since landing in Edmonton, Jarry has regressed significantly. He has surrendered 4.7 goals above expected and recorded four quality starts in 13 attempts (30.8 per cent). A goaltender earns a quality start when he saves more goals than expected.
In Pittsburgh, Jarry overcame a bad defence that allowed 3.31 expected goals per 60 minutes when he was in net earlier this season — 51st out of 55 goaltenders who had played at least 10 games (starts and relief appearances) through Jarry’s final game with the Penguins on Dec. 11, 2025.
Edmonton’s defensive play around Jarry has been worse, at 3.43 expected goals against per 60 minutes — 54th out of 60 goaltenders who have played at least 10 games since Jarry’s Oilers debut. Jarry consistently made high-difficulty saves for the Penguins, but he has done little of that for the Oilers. His slot save percentage has plunged from .863 in Pittsburgh (.850 from the inner slot) to .784 in Edmonton (.795 from the inner slot).
“It goes hand in hand,” Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl told reporters last month, after Jarry allowed four goals in a loss to the Calgary Flames. “We’ve got to defend better. We’ve got to make it easier on him. And then I’m sure he can be a little bit better, too. It’s a two-way street. It starts with us in front of him, and then the game becomes a little bit easier for him. But I think there’s saves that our goalies need to make at some point.”
One major issue for Jarry is his rebound control. He has coughed up a rebound on 73.4 per cent of the shots he has faced with the Oilers, which is the highest rate among the 60 qualified goaltenders. That has led to him facing 2.99 second-chance scoring opportunities per 60 minutes — most among the group. Only Nashville’s Juuse Saros (12) and Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky (11) have allowed more rebound goals than Jarry (10) over the past three months. Saros and Bobrovsky have started 26 and 23 games, respectively, compared to Jarry’s 13 over that span.
Five different Oilers goaltenders have started playoff games in the Draisaitl-Connor McDavid era, and the list isn’t exactly star-studded — Skinner, Mike Smith, Cam Talbot, Calvin Pickard and Mikko Koskinen.
Ingram, to his credit, has been solid since the Olympic break, with 2.04 GSAE over eight games (seven starts). Four years ago, he made three playoff starts for the Predators in place of the injured Saros, posting a .907 save percentage in those games.
But Ingram was never meant to be the Oilers’ starter as they attempt to get back to the Stanley Cup Final for the third year in a row.
The Oilers “weren’t playing well" in front of Jarry when he returned from injury in January, Knoblauch told reporters. “He wasn’t playing well, and it just compounded into deteriorating his game and ultimately deteriorating his confidence. The only way you can pick that up and feel good about your game is, well, it starts in practices — doing the little things, working hard and building your confidence through making the plays in practice, which will later translate over into games.
“I think he’s a wonderful goaltender, and we’re going to need him down the stretch. We can’t run Ingram every single game, as well as we like how he’s playing right now. We’re going to need both our goalies, and we’ll need (Jarry) to be at his best.”
