'We're just not clicking,' Oilers GM Stan Bowman says of Edmonton's scuffling start
CBC
Stan Bowman smirked when the conversation shifted to goaltending.
The Edmonton Oilers general manager has been in the job just under 16 months. He knows the crease — especially in a Canadian market — is always a hot topic.
And it's particularly scalding right now in Alberta's capital.
Stuart Skinner has allowed 11 goals over his last three starts, including four in Saturday's embarrassing 9-1 home loss to the Colorado Avalanche before getting pulled.
The Oilers rebounded with a 5-4 overtime victory Monday against the Columbus Blue Jackets thanks to a pair of jaw-dropping goals from Connor McDavid on a night that saw Skinner stop 15 of the 19 shots he faced.
Coming off its second straight Stanley Cup final appearance in June, Edmonton owns a 7-6-4 record through 17 games with Skinner and Calvin Pickard between the pipes.
Skinner, the team's current No. 1 option, had a .905 save percentage and a 2.62 goals-against average in 2023-24, but has watched his numbers head in the wrong direction since. The 27-year-old had a .896 save percentage and a 2.81 GAA last season before starting off the current campaign with a 2.91 GAA and an .883 save percentage.
There have been calls from fans and media for Bowman to make a trade, but speaking Tuesday in Toronto after the NHL's annual November GM meeting, the executive said his netminders have been far from the only issue in a wobbly start.
"Our goalies have been average — haven't been elite and they haven't been bad," Bowman told The Canadian Press. "Sort of the way our team has been. I don't know if they performed really any differently than our forwards and our defence. We're just not clicking as a group.
"That position gets more attention. I'm not sure it's more of a problem."
Bowman said the onus is on the entire roster to simply play better.
"We've had ups and downs throughout with both goalies, the defence and the forwards," he said. "It would be probably clearer if (goaltending was) costing us games night after night, but that's just not it.
"We've had other things that have been costing us just as much."
Edmonton stumbling out of the gate is a familiar story. Edmonton sat 5-11-1 through 17 games in 2023-24 and was 9-7-1 last season before both times turning things on and making memorable runs to the final.
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