Devon Levi got the win for the Oilers on Thursday night, but Mike Babcock's postgame message pointed straight at the crease.
Edmonton outlasted Vancouver 9-7 on the road. Nine goals usually buys a goalie a quiet morning after.
Not this time.
Babcock's second answer was the one that landed: "We didn't give a ton of chances, but the puck ended up in our net."
He never mentioned his goaltender by name. With a line like that, he didn't need to.
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Levi faced 22 shots and stopped 15, a .682 save percentage on a night his own coach described as light on chances.
Connor McDavid had to pile up five points just to drag this one over the finish line.
Tristan Jarry's .739 leaves the Oilers with no easy answer in goal
Leon Draisaitl scored twice, one of them on the power play. Evan Bouchard added three points from the blue line.
Kasperi Kapanen's lone goal was a shorthanded game-winner, the kind of bounce that bails out a sloppy back half.
Babcock did spread some of it around. He pointed to turnovers and his low forward drifting in D-zone coverage.
Shakir Mukhamadullin went minus-4, the worst mark on the Edmonton back end. Colton Dach and Max Jones each finished with a -3 rating up front.
But telling reporters you didn't give up much, then watching the puck keep finding the net, is like a homeowner bragging about the locks while the back window stays wide open.
Tristan Jarry hasn't grabbed the job either. He took the overtime loss in Tuesday's 6-5 home defeat to Vancouver.
The cap sheet makes it awkward. Jarry carries a $5,375,000 cap hit, while the younger goalie sits at $812,500.
Here's the blunt part. A roster built around McDavid and Draisaitl shouldn't be holding goalie auditions in October, and that one lands on Stan Bowman's desk.
So who gets the net Saturday when Seattle comes to town?
The Oilers are already without Zach Hyman, out until at least Oct. 17 with an undisclosed issue. That puts even more weight on the top six.
Edmonton sits first in the division at 1-0-1. But 13 goals against through two games won't survive a full schedule.
Babcock wants a full 60. Whether he trusts Levi to give him one is now the loudest question in the locker room.
Should Mike Babcock hand Tristan Jarry the net Saturday against Seattle?
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