Kris Knoblauch pushes back on blaming goaltending, points finger in other direction
Photo credit: Edit from AP News
There has been a lot of blame recently towards the Oilers' goalies, but Kris Knoblauch will have none of it, instead pointing the finger at his defensemen.
The pressure against Stuart Skinner continues to mount after his Edmonton Oilers team went down 7-4 to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.
Edmonton started off behind and surrendered a quick 2-0 advantage before fighting back to 3-2 after the first period.
Stuart Skinner's save percentage last night was abysmal
Each time Edmonton managed to get within striking distance with its goals, Washington struck again, and Skinner just couldn't halt the rally. He allowed five goals on only 19 shots and finished off the night with a .767 save percentage.
This brings his overall season save percentage to .881 for his 7-6-2 season record. Edmonton's head coach, Kris Knoblauch, refused to put all the blame on his goalie but rather on Edmonton's defensive efforts.
"We don't give Stu much help," Knoblauch said. "You look at these nights where Stu is giving up a lot of goals and you're thinking it's on goaltending, but we're not making the game easy for him."
This is not entirely unfair to Knoblauch, as Edmonton showed poor slot defence and puck management and gave Washington too much control.
Nevertheless, these two things are also true: The defence was leaky, and Skinner didn't come through with timely saves.
Many of the goals allowed were stoppable, and each time Edmonton trimmed its deficit, puck luck didn't go its way. The team's offence did its part by scoring four goals against Logan Thompson.
Why now is finally the time to panic
Edmonton is now ranked last in goals against (80), last in five-on-five goals against (58), and last in team save percentage (.857).
This is now entering its third season as a goaltending problem and is being openly addressed by analysts beyond Western Conference circles, from Sabres broadcaster Rob Ray to analyst Darren Pang on TNT.
This is no longer just a defensive system or goalie problem; it seems like it's a problem in every aspect.
Despite having inconsistent goaltending in Edmonton's two Stanley Cup Final series appearances, this strategy is no longer working for them.
In order for Edmonton to have another successful run at the cup title, it will need to prioritise its deficiencies.
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 20 | 181 ANSWERS Kris Knoblauch pushes back on blaming goaltending, points finger in other direction Who is at fault here? | ||
| Goalies | 70 | 38.7 % |
| Defensemen | 87 | 48.1 % |
| Forwards | 24 | 13.3 % |
| List of polls | ||