Mikko Koskinen not happy with being thrown under the bus by Dave Tippett

Following Monday night's loss to the New York Rangers, Oilers head coach Dave Tippett met with reporters and gave some blunt criticism of Mikko Koskinen's performance.

"I thought we did a lot of things well tonight. Our goaltender wasn't very good and we didn't find enough pucks at the net to get us back in the game." Tippett said.

When asked about Koskinen's turnover to Alexis Lafreniere that led to the game's opening goal, Tippett said, "What do you want? It's a brutal mistake. It's a brutal mistake. What are you gonna do? Call it what it is. We're playing well. It's a brutal mistake."

In an interview with Tommi Seppala of Yle Urheilu in Finland, Koskinen said that he wasn't happy with being thrown under the bus by his head coach, adding that his team's performance in front of him hasn't been great either and that he can't score goals.

"That's how it usually goes in this business. When a team is doing badly, either the coach or the goalkeeper is sacrificed. It doesn't feel nice to anyone when thrown under the bus, but those coach comments didn't make me wonder about it. You just have to go to the next game." Koskinen said.

He added, "It must also be said that in the six games I lost, the team has scored seven goals. I can't score goals. It's not always up to the goalkeeper alone to win or lose. The whole team needs to play better in the future."

The Oilers are 2-8-2 in their last twelve games with their only two wins coming with Stuart Skinner in net. Koskinen's last win came on December 1st against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

While Koskinen does have a point when it comes to the Oilers lack of offense in his last six losses, as the team has only scored seven goals, he has to be better as well. In his last six losses, he's given up 24 goals, an average of four a game.

The Oilers will face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night and it's unclear if Koskinen will get the start or if Dave Tippett will turn to 23-year-old Ilya Konovalov to make his NHL debut.

Related: Former NHL goaltender points out two illegal issues with Mikko Koskinen's stick

Mikko Koskinen on critics from Tippett, media: »It's not nice being thrown under the bus. I have to be better but at the same time we scored 7 goals in my last 6 losses. I can't score goals.» #LetsGoOilers #NHL https://t.co/GGxX8EKJnI— Tommi Seppälä (@TommiSeppala) January 5, 2022

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