3 Edmonton Oilers Players That Fell Under Expectations This Year
Mike Smith
Even thought Mike Smith has played well in his last 3 starts, that isn’t a big enough sample size for me to say he is back to last years Mike Smith. His last 3 games are hopefully a sign that his game is back, but 2 of the 3 games have been against much weaker teams than the Oilers. His last game against the playoff bound Kings was his weakest game, but he still played good.
| Goalie Stats | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | DEC | GA | SA | SV | SV% | SO | PIM | TOI | ||
| 1 | 2022-04-07 | EDM | @ | LAK | W | 2 | 33 | 31 | .939 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | |
| 2 | 2022-04-05 | EDM | @ | SJS | W | 1 | 32 | 31 | .969 | 0 | 0 | 60:22 | |
| 3 | 2022-04-03 | EDM | @ | ANA | W | 1 | 32 | 31 | .969 | 0 | 0 | 60:00 | |
| 4 | 2022-04-01 | EDM | STL | W | 5 | 36 | 31 | .861 | 0 | 0 | 61:11 | ||
| 5 | 2022-03-26 | EDM | @ | CGY | L | 4 | 26 | 22 | .846 | 0 | 2 | 34:34 | |
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com
Related Story. Is The Mike Smith Deal Already A Bust?. light
If he continues to play this way in the coming weeks prior to playoffs, there will be no doubt that he will be the starter on the opening night of the playoffs. The problem with Smith is his injury history so far this season. So, even if he is playing good one wrong leg movement and he will be out.
| Season | GP | W | L | T/O | GA | SA | SV | SV% | GAA | SO | QS | QS% | RBS | GA%- | GSAA | adjGAA | GPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 23 | 11 | 9 | 2 | 68 | 698 | 630 | .903 | 3.19 | 0 | 10 | .455 | 3 | 106 | -3.7 | 3.33 | 3.5 |
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com
If you take the stats from his whole season he has been an average goaltender. Like I mentioned above his biggest downfall of his season has been health. In the games he played earlier in the season I assume he was playing when not 100% healthy, which is why his numbers struggled.
I believe if Mike Smith can stay healthy and play average hockey the remainder of the season he will have worked his way off this list. Until he does that he will stay here because coming into the season he was penciled in as the Edmonton Oilers Number 1 goalie.