I’m warning
you. Don’t mind me today. It’s not very often I can talk about some
Oilers positives. Now that I’m finally
given the chance I’m going to take the puck and rush it end-to-end (that’s a
hockey reference). If you have no idea
what the hell I’m talking about (which wouldn’t surprise me because unless
you’re an Oilers fan you’re not paying attention to the Oil), Ben Scrivens, the
Oilers netminder, put on a goaltending clinic last night making 59 saves in a
3-0 victory over the San Jose Sharks.
Yes, you read that correctly, 59 saves.
To put this
performance in perspective to show how amazing this is, check this out:
- It’s the most saves made in an NHL game since Ron Tugnutt’s 70 save performance against the Bruins in a 3-3 tie on March 21, 1991.
- Scrivens 59 saves are an NHL record for most saves in a shutout.
- If you factor in blocked shots and misses, San Jose put 100 shots on the net.
I understand
it’s only one game and the Oilers are no strangers to the NHL record books
(remember that Gretzky guy?), but given the state of this team it was a
miracle. My 11 year-old nephew is a Pee
Wee defenseman. He has better hockey
instinct and practices basic fundamentals more than the Oilers joke of a blue line. Scrivens faced numerous odd-man rushes
because of turnovers and I can’t tell you how many rebounds he turned away. The Oilers defense has a knack for not doing
their job. This game was all on Scrivens
and frankly he should have been the first, second, and third star of the game
(he was only the first). This was
arguably the best performance by a goaltender in the history of the Edmonton Oilers
(Grant Fuhr and Curtis Joseph have had some gems of their own).
Now given
the huge game out of Scrivens last night, the biggest talk out of Edmonton is
if Scrivens is the goalie of the future? Fans can debate this all day but the answer is
no.
Don’t’ get
me wrong. I like The Professor (Scrivens’
nickname). I’d like to see Edmonton sign
him to a new deal. In his short NHL
career, Scrivens has been impressive. He
just has no proven track record ever as a starter. The most games he’s ever playing in his
professional career was 39 as a member of the Toronto Marlies. While his numbers were pretty good, the
talent in the AHL and NHL are day and night.
The most games he’s ever played at the NHL level is 23; which happens to
be this year. Signing him and naming him
the starter would be exactly the same thing the Oilers did last offseason with
Devan Dubnyk (all Oilers fans know how that ended).
Given the
Oil’s eternal rebuild they cannot afford to roll the dice with a goalie who
has been a backup his entire career. It's not like he's had the prospect hype like a Jonathan
Bernier or Cory Schneider. He's just a servicable goalie what has the ability to win the game for you (I think last night showed that).
Now if Scrivens was on the Flyers, Ed Snider would have signed him to a 10-year deal today (that was borrowed from Lowetide), but the Oilers need to be smart. In the
upcoming offseason they need to be aggressive and get a bonafide starter
(along with a couple of defenseman and a big second-line center). I’m all for keeping Scrivens as a backup. In 25-30 games a season he can be one of the
best backups in the league (some defense would obviously help). He’s just not the answer in Edmonton moving
forward.
Where do you
stand Oilers fan? Drop a comment or
email me at gimmeasign@gmail.com. Follow me on Twitter @JayPlatt. It’s only marginally disappointing.
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