Well... who could've seen that coming?

Edmonton fell completely flat footed against the LA Kings last night. There were moments where the Oilers had good scoring chances but they weren't able to capitalize. Most of that became irrelevant after the first period where Mike Smith personally dug Edmonton into a hole they simply weren't going to recover from.

Early on in the season, Edmonton was able to hang their hat upon having a 1A and 1B goaltending tandem that could give the Oilers a chance to win any game. As the season has continued, Koskinen has continued to rise to that challenge while Mike Smith has not.

I was prepared to write that Mike Smith has declined heavily through his recent starts, but that hasn't completely been the case. Through the first 7 games here are his numbers


GP DEC GA SA SV SV% SO PIM TOI
7 3-3-1 16 186 170 .914 1 0 386:13

Through his last 6 games

GP DEC GA SA SV SV% SO PIM TOI
6 3-3-0 16 169 153 .905 0 0 320:38

While there has been a slight decrease, overall the numbers look not too dissimilar. The bigger are of concern is the Smith's total GAA at 5 on 5 this season.

Of the 34 goalies this season who have played at least 500 minutes at 5 on 5, Mike Smith sits 29th with a GAA of 2.85 and 30th with a SV% 0.901.

Koskinen meanwhile sits 9th with a SV% of 0.929 and 9th with a GAA of 2.14. Koskinen by far has been the Oilers best goalie this season.

So far this season we have seen Tippett typically play his goalies, 2 games on, 2 games off, almost regardless of their play or a win or a loss. When both goalies were putting up similar numbers this strategy was fine but Koskinen is now looking like a starting goaltender while Smith is looking like a 37 year old backup.

Fans remember how Koskinen played last season when he was given sole custody of the starting job; not very well, but a player should not be judged by his performance from last season. Right now Koskinen is giving his team a far better chance to win each night than Mike Smith.

Koskinen is signed for another two seasons after this one while Smith is a UFA after this season. Tippett should give Koskinen a push over the next four or five games, using Smith in the back to back game situations. As of right now the 50-50 split between games is not working.

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