It’s year two of Edmonton Oilers’ goaltender Jack Campbell’s five-year, $25 million contract and his lacklustre start is reminiscent of last season where he struggled out of the gate. He currently has a .877 save percentage (SV%) and his 4.35 goals-against average (GAA) ranks 62nd among goaltenders that have played this season.
After poor outings last season, we got a glimpse of him being his own worst enemy, with how critical he was of his overall play. On Nov. 5 of last season, the Oilers lost to the Dallas Stars 6-2 and in the postgame interview, he evaluated his play, saying, “I just haven’t brought my best, and frankly it’s just been pathetic the way I’ve been playing.”
It seemed Campbell was writing his own headlines last season with his own game analysis because it seemed like after an Oilers loss he would take 100% of the blame with harsh self-judgement, but early in Edmonton’s underwhelming season so far, it seems he’s adopting a more balanced approach.
Campbell Didn’t Just Blame Himself After the Loss Against Wild
Campbell was so self-critical last year that even his general manager (GM) Ken Holland spoke of it in the offseason, saying, “Maybe, at times, [Campbell] takes a little bit too much responsibility. But I know that I’d rather have that than the guy that doesn’t take any responsibility.”
Related: 5 Observations From Oilers’ Underwhelming First 5 Games
With that in mind, the Oilers lost 7-4 against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 24, and former Oiler and now hockey analyst for “Edmonton Sports Talk”, Joaquin Gage, insinuated that the team likely hit rock bottom after the poor outing. Despite the loss, Edmonton actually had a 3-2 lead heading into the third period, but mainly because Campbell played one of his best periods in Oilers silks.
Campbell made big stops in the second period to keep the game close, including a save that will be in contention for save of the year, when he dove across the crease and robbed Pat Maroon of a goal. Yet, the Oilers failed to show up in the third period, resulting in the loss.
After the game, Campbell discussed areas he could improve on, but unlike last season, he passed on some of the blame to his Oilers teammates, when he said, “As a unit, I know we can tighten things up too.” This may seem like a simple statement, but remember, this is a player who appeared to carry the entire load of responsibility on his shoulders and took 100% of the blame after every loss last season.
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As well, Gage analyzed Campbell’s comments further, saying, “What I heard from Jack Campbell is, they made some good plays, and he wasn’t taking [all of the blame].. sure, he would’ve liked to have made a few more of those saves, but I think he kind of was saying, look, you guys, I need some help here.” He added, “Jack Campbell was amazing in that second period, I like that he’s not taking the full brunt like we saw last year.”
Oilers Left Campbell Out to Dry in Third Period Against Wild
Campbell appears to be showing growth in his mindset by not blaming himself entirely after the loss to Minnesota. If this continues moving forward, it may help him to bounce back quicker after a poor start. But the NHL is a result-driven business, and the fact remains, that he still gave up six goals against the Wild, which is definitely not good enough, but at the same time, the team in front of him put in a poor effort defensively.
For instance, on the Wild’s tying goal in the third period, the Oilers got caught puck-watching and Ryan Hartman was left all alone in front to one-time a goal past Campbell, to make the game 3-3. On the Wild’s fourth goal, Evan Bouchard misplayed the puck off his backhand, which ended up in the hands of the highly skilled Kirill Kaprizov who centered it for yet another one-timer goal in the slot, this time by Mats Zuccarello.
On the fifth goal, the Oilers watched as the Wild moved the puck around, Joel Eriksson Ek got a hold of it behind the net and skated untouched towards the crease to beat Campbell, and while the Oilers’ netminder should’ve had the sixth goal, it was a poorly timed pinch by Bouchard that led to the play. Let’s not forget that Edmonton also took three too many men penalties, showing sloppiness towards the little details of the game.
Simply put, the Oilers left their goaltender out to dry against the Wild and Campbell had every right to say his team needs to tighten things up defensively. To add to that, according to Natural Stat Trick, at 5-on-5, Minnesota had 11 high-danger scoring chances, in comparison to the Oilers’ three and they also had 13 slot shot chances, to the Oilers’ six, showing that Edmonton’s lack of attention to detail defensively showed not only by the eye-test but in the underlying metrics as well.
To sum it up, the Oilers as a whole need to put in a full 60 minutes and display greater mental toughness as a unit. It’s only six games in, but they need to improve in several areas, like their shoddy defensive coverage, before they find themselves lagging too far behind the pack.
What’s the key area that requires tightening up for the Oilers? Have your say in the comments below!
