Edmonton Oilers goaltender Jack Campbell hasn’t gotten off to the start he would have liked this season. While his record is 5-3-0, he’s struggling to find a level of comfort and consistency in net, and of late, he’s let pucks past him that he’d otherwise liked to have stopped. Campbell called his own performances “pathetic” and says he’s yet to play his best game.
“It was kind of like it’s gone all year for me personally,” Campbell said. “I just haven’t brought my best. Frankly, it’s just been pathetic the way I’ve been playing. The Oilers are invested in the netminder, having given him a five-year deal worth $5 million per season.
One of the questions being asked in Edmonton is how long before this becomes a concern. It’s early and there’s still a lot of time left in a season where the Oilers are still above .500. That said, the Oilers need to a bonafide starter to pull his weight, and Campbell’s performances aren’t good enough to give the Oilers a chance to win the Stanely Cup. Stuart Skinner has been good, but he’s still a rookie and if his late-game struggles against the New Jersey Devils prove anything, it’s that they’ll be ups and downs with Skinner as he figures out the NHL.
He was asked multiple questions by the media but the answer was always the same: he expects to play better and he will because the guys deserve it. Confident he’ll figure it out, he contended it doesn’t matter how the pucks went in — one goal on Saturday looked like it might have actually gone through the meshing on his glove hand — only that they did go in. His job is to stop the puck.
“That’s a team loss,” said head coach Jay Woodcroft, who wasn’t about to lay the bad game at the feet of his netminder. He added, “That’s not on one person. We got out everything’d — we, as a group, did.” Like Campbell’s performance was underwhelming, that the Oilers got outplayed is also true.
Edmonton will go back out on the road where they’ve been much better than at home. Maybe that’s where Campbell will find his game.
Next: Three Takeaways from Maple Leafs’ 2-1 Win Over Bruins
Pingback: 2-Game Suspension Won't Teach Tkachuk a Darn Thing [Opinion]
Pingback: 2-Game Suspension Won’t Teach Tkachuk a Darn Thing [Opinion] - NEW Sport
Pingback: 2-Sport Suspension Will not Educate Tkachuk a Darn Factor [Opinion] - sportsnewz.today
Pingback: Draisaitl Calls Out Oilers For Inability to Stop Goals Against
Pingback: Draisaitl Calls Out Oilers For Inability to Stop Goals Against - NEW Sport