Sonny Sachdeva for Today's Slapshot about Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot:
Through his 324 minutes of play thus far, Talbot has earned a goals-against-average of 2.22 (the 11th-best mark of all goaltenders who have played in five or more games thus far this season) and a save-percentage of .918 (the 12th-best mark among this group).Oops. That story was posted on October 25th. Here's the Edmonton Journal on November 1st:
The sample size is still small and the season is young, but it’s already clear that Talbot is a notable upgrade over the Oilers’ previous options in the cage. Perhaps most encouraging for the Oilers faithful is the fact that Talbot’s numbers thus far align well with his previous performance in New York. He impressed in place of an injured Henrik Lundqvist last season while posting a goals-against-average of 2.21 and save-percentage of .926.
Talbot has continued to play at that level this season, which should be notable for the Oilers considering those numbers were good for 21 wins in 36 games for the Rangers. Crucial in that victorious run last season, however, was the fact that New York finished the year as the third-highest scoring team in the league – concluding the campaign with a goals-for per game mark of 3.02.
Edmonton Oilers goalie Cam Talbot’s last game in October was anything but a Halloween treat, but it was symbolic of his first month’s work. There is room for improvement with his .897 save percentage and a 2.88 goal average in 10 games.
Talbot wasn’t supposed to be a saviour in net after the Oilers traded three draft picks for him in June. They just wanted a starter who hopefully could be better or more consistent than Ben Scrivens, but Talbot has given up 15 goals in his last 115 shots; a rough patch, for sure.
Goalies can’t have save percentages under .900. Truth is, .915 is about average now. Talbot knows that.It keeps getting worse. What's Going on with Cam Talbot was the headline Suni Lagni of SB Nation asked on November 8th. And on November 18th Jim Matheson of the National Post admonished both Edmonton goaltenders.
He gave up two ugly goals against Calgary — the mishandling of the puck that Michael Frolik finished off, and the bad-angle shot by Frolik that found its way into the net. Are these mental mistakes or technical? Mental error on the first, technical faux pas on the second.
Which brings us to November 23rd: Jonathon Willis has dubbed Anders Nilsson as the Oilers #1 goaltender. That night, he lets in a single goal against the Washington Capitals in a 1-0 loss.
Oilers management has now had a whopping three high profile goaltenders come into the team and become disappointments. Victor Fasth was a nightmare, faggot-loving coward Ben Scrivens now can't even handle the AHL, and Cam Talbot turns out to have been a phantom as well.
One hopes that the Oilers have learned their lesson: before considering another team's backup as the best thing since sliced bread, first make sure they aren't playing in front of a dominating defensive lineup. Anybody can look good with Drew Doughty playing in front of him. Put me in that net and I'd probably post an 0.825 SV%.
