Edmonton Oilers coach's comments suggest possible goalie controversy

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C. Ritchie
June 1, 2022 (4:06 PM)

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The Edmonton Oilers are coming off another playoff series opening loss. So far in the 2022 playoffs, the Oilers have lost Game 1 of all three will being outscored 4-3, 9-6 and 8-6 respectively. The Oilers have managed to bounce back and in the last two series they won both in 7 games. But now they are going up against the regular season Western Conference Champion Colorado Avalanche. There is little room for error against a fast and skilled team like the Avalanche who can score in bunches as we saw in Game 1. So now the Oilers are finally asking, is Mike Smith the best option going forward?

Since joining the Edmonton Oilers, Mike Smith has started five Game 1s in the playoffs. In those five games, Smith has put up atrocious numbers. He now carries a 6.77GAA and .823SAVE%, along with being pulled three times in Game 1s. Two of those times were this year's playoffs. Tuesday night against Colorado and the Calgary Flames in the previous series. But most importantly, not a single win in those five games. Now the question is, could 40-year-old Mike Smith be running out of steam? And is Mikko Koskinen the better solution?

I though Mike Smith was excellent for us all playoffs long. We'll determine Mike's status and Mikko's status tomorrow.

For the first time this playoffs, Oilers Head Coach Jay Woodcroft would not state that Mike Smith was going to be the next game's starter. Woodcroft stated that they will see who is in better shape to play between Mike Smith and backup Mikko Koskinen. With the Colorado Avalanche losing Darcy Kuemper as well, this series will most likely come down to who has the healthiest goalie. This could be a series deciding decision for the Oilers.