The Oilers were able to walk away with a 6-5 victory on Tuesday night, but it came at a big cost. After the Anaheim Ducks scored in the second period to go up 4-3, many assumed goaltender Mike Smith was replaced by Mikko Koskinen in hopes to change momentum, but that turned out not to be the case.
Instead, Smith, 39, was forced to leave the game due to injury. While the initial update sounded positive, there still is a chance it could be a difficult injury to the Oilers who would be forced to go with a Koskinen and Stuart Skinner tandem for the time being.
There were a ton of question marks headed into the 2021-22 season in regards to the Oilers goaltending. Smith was fantastic the season prior, something everyone acknowledged, however given his age many brought up the fact that if he were to sustain an injury it could be trouble. Just three games in, that fear has already come into existence.
After the game, head coach Dave Tippett was asked by TSN’s Ryan Rishaug about the severity of Smith’s injury, and he gave a positive response.
“I think it’s going to be day to day,” Tippett said. “He just tweaked something that he didn’t want to hurt worse. Lower body injury day to day. We’ll see where he is tomorrow. … He’s going to see a doctor in the morning just to check things out.”
Smith was not having his best game prior to his injury on Tuesday evening, allowing four goals on just 15 shots. However, he was rock solid through the Oilers first two games of the season, winning both while posting a 1.92 goals against average along with a .953 save percentage.
If there is any type of positive to take from this, it is the fact that Koskinen looked very solid in relief of Smith, stopping 20 of the 21 shots he faced. He played a huge part in the Oilers walking away with two points, and one hopes this can be a major confidence builder for the six-foot-seven netminder who is coming off of a poor 2020-21 season.
The Oilers were lucky to walk away with a win in this one, as they were no where near their best. It was a disappointing effort against a team in the Ducks who many believe may be a lottery team this season. Nonetheless, they are 3-0-0, so it is tough to complain too much. The only sense of worry right now is on the status of Smith, something we should learn more about soon.