The big news for Oiler fans today is that Cam Talbot has been placed on the IR and is out as much as 2 weeks, per Head Coach Todd McLellan.
Talbot had originally tweaked something against Detroit, played against Arizona, but the nagging soreness prompted the team to give him an MRI where something is his upper body shows minor damage.
Talbot has played the vast majority of Edmonton’s games since coming here, and especially so since last season. He played in 73 of Edmonton’s 82 games last season, plus all 13 playoff games, and in 22 of Edmonton’s 25 games this season. He is the workhorse of the club.
Last season, Talbot had a .919 save percentage over those 73 games and garnered some well-deserved Vezina consideration for it. Outside of McDavid, he was really the only other viable candidate for team MVP.
This season…not so much. Talbot has a very below average .903 in the first quarter of the season and his inability to stop the puck on the PK in particular has been a killer. Only 24 goaltenders have played at least 75 PK minutes. Cam Talbot is one of them. He has the worst PK save percentage among his peers with an .800 on the kill. Last season he was middle of the pack with an .877 save percentage with his team down a man.
During 5v5 play a year ago, Talbot had a .929 save percentage. He was 9th in the NHL for goalies with at least 2000 minutes played. This year, he’s at a .919 on the year. He’s in the bottom 1/3 for starting goalies in the NHL, but those aren’t game killing numbers. The big issue is what’s happening on the PK. Edmonton’s issues are more than just goaltending on the disadvantage, but they need someone to bail them out.
Hopefully the rest Talbot gets over these next 14 days or so helps him find whatever it is he lost over the summer. Maybe it’s injury related. Maybe not. All I can say is that the pressure falls squarely onto Laurent Brossoit’s shoulders in this critical time of the year.
The Oiler backup has appeared in just 6 contests this fall and he’s sporting a pretty nasty .881 save percentage. Not surprisingly, he’s failed to pick up a win under those conditions. The Oil have strung together two wins in a row for just the 2nd time this season and they need this winless goalie to get W’s in 3 of his next 4 starts if the playoffs want to remain even a faint hope.
The club has recalled Nick Ellis from Bakersfield. Ellis has been a serviceable, though not stellar, AHL goaltender in his first 2 professional seasons. He has a .914 save percentage this season and had .918 in last season. I doubt he shows up in any of the games if this plays out the way the Oilers want. If Brossoit struggles, however, then he might get the nod sooner than we all hope.
LINEUP
Puljujarvi draws in on the top line.
Lucic McDavid Puljujarvi Maroon RNH Slepyshev Caggiula Draisiatl Strome Khaira Letestu Kassian
Klefbom Benning Nurse Larsson Auvitu Russell
Brossoit
OILERS KEYS TO THE GAME
1) McDavid vs Kadri. Nazem Kadri made a pretty big impression on the Oil and their fans when he went head to head against Connor McDavid and lead his team to victory. The Leaf center played the role of shadow that night and sure enough everywhere McDavid went, there was Kadri to follow. He was draped all over the Oiler Captain and crossed the line several times over into interference. Kadri got the better of McDavid that day, and you can be sure that’s still in McDavid’s mind.
2) PP Changes. The standout in the last game for the Power Play was the puck dying on Lucic’s stick over and over again. He could not gain the offensive zone and when he did it was often just to turn the puck over. He’s been removed from the top unit with Jujhar Khaira taking over as the net front presence role. It’s clearly a message to Lucic more than him strictly losing his job to a guy who has been hurt all year and stapled to the 4th line. Still, Jujhar Khaira can make himself be felt as that man in front. He has been making plays this season and has a really positive scoring chance differential so far. Maybe he finds a fit.
3) El Bee. This game is about Laurent Brossoit as much as it is about anything for Edmonton. They’ve been waiting a long time for this guy to prove he’s really an NHL goalie and he starts his chance tonight. It’s going to be at least 6 or 7 games before Talbot comes back. He has a .902 in 20 career NHL appearances and that’s not good enough, but it’s been spot duty. Now he knows he’s the starter and goalies are weird enough that things like that make a difference. Goalies, man. Voodoo.
Puck drops tonight at 7PM Mountain Time on Sportsnet West. Game On!
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