Not enough people are talking about this... (And they should be)

Not enough people are talking about this as one player in specific for the Edmonton Oilers has really started to find his game in the last week or so and has been the main reason behind the Oilers collecting points in his last few appearances. Welcome back to Oilers Digest. I am your host Joseph Greco and in today's video we're going to be taking a look at yesterday's shootout loss against the New Jersey Devils or should I say their tie against the Devils last night. In a game where, in my opinion, the Oilers were very fortunate to walk away with a point. So, let's jump straight into it by taking a look at, very quickly, some of the results from yesterday. Some of the points and goal scores. Obviously, as I mentioned, they were very fortunate to walk away with a point against the Devils yesterday. They were heavily outplayed in the second period. A nice two-point performance from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in a game where he set the Oilers record for most games played by an Oiler. On the other side of things, Jack Hughes with a very impressive night in his own regard with a three-point performance. Evan Bouchard, two points for the Oilers as well. And Connor McDavid continuing that point and assist streak. He's been incredible to start the season. The matchup between the goaltenders, surprisingly, Tristan Jarry really outplayed Connor Hellebuyck with not only statistically with the better numbers, but I thought he made a lot bigger saves than Connor Hellebuyck did last night. So credit where credit is due. The biggest player and the biggest storyline for the Oilers in the last few games has been Tristan Jari and for all the right reasons. Now, first things first, before we talk about Tristan Jarry's play, I do want to just highlight where this game sort of got away from the Edmonton Oilers, and that was the second period. The Oilers were pretty much outshot and outplayed that entire second period. They were skated around the entire time. The Devils came and scored all their goals in the second period. They put more than 10 shots on Tristan Jarry, and the Oilers had With less than 10 minutes to go, they had only shot on Hellebuck once, which is unacceptable. And I had just given credit to Mike Babcock and the team for really starting to play a lot better. But we've seen this night in and night out where the Oilers are somewhat struggling to have full performance. It's a full 60-minute game. I thought they had it against the Islanders. I thought it was there against the Rangers. Just wasn't there against the Devils last night. They were outshot in the second period, 16-3. Goals three. For New Jersey heading into the third period and Jarry had to make 13 saves on 16 shots. So a very heavy second period where they were outplayed. Both statistically and just did not pass the eye test whatsoever. I thought without Tristan Jarry and that they probably would have been blown out of the water in this game. And Jack Hughes was certainly lights out for the New Jersey Devils. The three point performance. He was very elusive, very creative. It's what you expect from Jack Hughes. So I'm not going to stand here and say that I was surprised to see Jack Hughes have an effective game. However, a player that I will praise and give a lot of credit to is the man. Tristan Jari, who is the sole reason behind the Edmonton Oilers getting a point with a very, very strong performance last night against the New Jersey Devils. A 31 save performance, a .912 save percentage, only three goals against. He did a great job stopping the shots on the penalty kill, one-faced. I thought he made some big saves. I thought he made easy saves when needed. Thank He elevated to the occasion. I think for Tristan Jari, this is a huge result after being outplayed in the second period. You're the guy that kind of stands tall for the team. That way, you're going into the locker room. The game is still within reach. The Oilers managed to come in and tie the game you. and successfully get a point in a game where, let's face it, they're very fortunate to get a point. Credit where credit is due. Two consecutive shout-outs for Tristan Jari. He goes into this game against New Jersey. We knew it would be a tough game against a tough offensive team, and he's very, very impressive. So that's now three impressive starts for Tristan Jari as he continues to rack up. some quality starts as we can see here four straight quality starts and in those two quality starts he's managed to get one overtime loss and one shootout loss so even in those games where maybe the team doesn't do enough in front of him they are still getting a point major mainly off the fact that Tristan Jari is collecting solid solid performances so in his last four starts he's been very very impressive That first start was against Detroit. Obviously, when he faced the Leafs, it was a very tough game, but the Leafs were just a better team against the Oilers. Since then, Tristan Jari has been very reliable, very dependable, and this is great for the Oilers, great for the player. Obviously, I've been someone who has been critical of Tristan Jari, and I always said that for the player and the human being of Tristan Jari, I want him to get on a roll. I want him to find confidence because, number one, the Oilers traded away. Stuart Skinner, who was going to walk at the end of the season anyway, they brought in Tristan Jari and it just didn't work out. It didn't look like it was going to be going well. And I know it's still early and Jari's just now started to find his form, but with Devin Levi out, no Frederick Anderson, you are putting a lot of confidence in Tristan Jari. And it's safe to say that since Devin Levi has gone down, he has risen to the occasion. He's lived up to that contract. Yesterday was a perfect example where even if you don't win, Or you don't have a shutout. Or whatever it may be. You keep your expectations real. Three goals against. Very winnable game. They were outplayed for 20 full minutes in the second period. There was not a moment in that period where I thought the Oilers were the better hockey team. He made a lot of big saves. Over time, there was a few good rushes from the Devils, a few good saves there to give the chance for the Oilers right back. So the trend for Tristan Jari is very positive at the moment. He's continuing to make saves. He's continuing to make saves above his expected from last season, which is... Very, very positive because I'm someone who heading into the season after that first game against the Canucks said this is a goalie who has shown consistent regression in his play. If you look at his stats since 2022, 2023, you'll see consistent save percentage drop and consistent goals against average increase. So for Jari, very positive to see him playing better than what he's expected to. Making consistent saves. And again, if you look at those last four games, those are consistent numbers. And if you look between the Toronto game and that Vancouver game, he had a start against the Sharks. That was very good. And Utah, that was pretty solid as well. So in between, outside of, I would say, two to three games, Tristan Jarry has been really good. And I just feel like it's not being talked about enough, mainly because Devin Levi came in. And Devin Levi had a lot of strong performances. I think a lot of people, myself included at times, have somewhat put too much weight on that first game of the season. Obviously not the result you wanted or what you wanted to see from Tristan Jari and the team as a whole in that first game of the season against the Canucks. But since then, Tristan Jarry has been great. Too much weight is being put on the past and that first start. Despite the loss and despite the fact that yesterday's game was kind of ugly for the Oilers, credit where credit is due to Tristan Jari, who continues to showcase Value to this team and consistent play that could go a long way for this Oilers team that all of a sudden might have a little bit more goalie depth than we had hoped heading into the season. Now, just to quickly recap. Spotlight here on Tristan Jari, 13 saves in the second period, 31 saves before the shootout loss or the tie. And he gave the team a chance to kind of battle back, tie the game, force overtime. And obviously, once it's three-on-three, anything can happen with that much open ice. Obviously, you know, maybe Connor McDavid was seeing some demons as he was facing off against Jack Hughes with Connor Hellebuck in net, as we are all unfortunately aware of how things ended off last time Jack Hughes was on the ice with Connor Hellebuck. in net when they played for the same team against Connor McDavid. So moving on, one thing that I think is also not being talked about enough is a player who maybe has a little bit too long of a leash with head coach Mike Babcock, someone who I praised early in the season, but just hasn't really played well in the last stretch of games. And that is Owen Michaels, who needs to start getting some more offensive zone time when he's on the ice or just maybe potentially see the press box. I don't understand why. He has had such a long leash with head coach Mike Babcock. I understand he had a very effective start to the season, putting up some points. But obviously last night, just shy of 13 minutes, time on ice. Only one shot on goal. His line is too consistently outshot, too consistently outscored. They're not generating anything in the offensive zone. I understand he's a right-hand shot, and I think that's why Owen Michaels is getting so much leeway and such a big leash. It's the fact that he's the only right-handed centerman in the lineup, but he's just not been good enough. I think for the player, the young player who needs to develop, you've got to discipline him and maybe sit him for a game. It hurts me to say this because just a day ago, I said that Mike Babcock's done a great job holding people accountable. But I think Owen Michaels is someone who, although he's only your fourth line centerman. He could be held accountable too. He hasn't been very good. I think the offensive spark has died off. I think his effectiveness in the faceoff dot has died off. And despite this, I think a lot of ice time is being given to Owen Michaels. Consistent, you know, 13 minutes time on ice. And I'm a little bit questioning that decision to continue deploying him despite the results not being there, both offensively and defensively. And obviously the line itself has not very clicked. They have been outshot, outscored on a consistent basis. And that's with, in my opinion, Joseph playing very well. So something to monitor going forward is the deployment of Owen Michaels as the team continues to get healthy. Zach Hyman hopefully returning soon. Hopefully we get some sort of timeline and timetable for Matt Savoy soon. I don't know where the communication has died off. Even with Ike Howard, the communication, Mike Babcock just saying, yeah, you know, it's not as bad as we expected, and yeah, we'll see. No, the Oilers are not giving us any information towards injuries, and it's starting to get a little frustrating. I'll save that rant for another video. That is all I have for you guys today. Shout out to Tristan Jari for giving the Oilers a chance to win it yesterday, being the sole reason behind a point. And keep your eye on Owen Michaels and Mike Babcock, because whatever that situation there of Owen Michaels being such a fan favorite from Mike Babcock continues to grow. But that's all I have for you guys in today's video. If you enjoyed, give it a thumbs up, subscribe if you're new, and I'll catch you in the next video. Toodles.