One thing that continues to be overlooked when we talk about goaltending is that goalies are people rather than systems. We like to boil it down to technique – angles, depth, rebound control – and all of that is important. But every now and then you watch a few games close together and realize you’re not really looking at the mechanics at all. You look at the temperament.
Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner are different people; Does it matter?
That’s where Tristan Jarry and Stuart Skinner part ways for me. Jarry has always seen me as a goalkeeper who feels the game. When it’s on, it’s really on. He is aggressive, sharp and almost impatient with shooters. There is a trust that looks earned, not borrowed.
But if something goes sideways – a deflection, a soft one, a collapse that lands behind him – you can see it land. He doesn’t melt, but he carries it. The next few shots are more important than they should be.
You notice it in the little things. Half a second late in setting. That’s one thing I saw when I saw him against the Minnesota Wild before he was pulled last night. A look after a whistle. Movements that look just a little tighter than they did ten minutes earlier. It’s like he’s trying to solve the game while it’s still going on, and sometimes that makes it harder instead of easier.
Skinner is another whole kettle of fish
Skinner feels like the complete opposite animal. He gives up goals that would bother most goalkeepers, and you know he cares. But he just doesn’t seem to show it. Not in a reckless way. More in a “that’s already gone” way. The body language hardly changes. The position remains the same. He never looks angry or irritated at anyone other than himself. He just waits for the next puck and does his best to stop it.
In Edmonton that is no small thing. That team has offense to burn, but also gives up looks. They trade opportunities. Chaos is part of the deal. With the Oilers, that story is about as old as Wayne Gretzky and Grant Fuhr. Skinner seems built for that environment because he has already accepted that bad things will happen and has decided not to emotionally negotiate with them.
That’s why Skinner fits so well with the Oilers’ ethos: chaos, oddballs and high-level hockey don’t faze him. Jarry? It’s different, and that difference may matter more than we think.
Skinner is no better or worse than Jarry; He’s just different
This isn’t about who is better as a goalkeeper. What matters is how they react when the game is no longer civil. Jarry looks like a goalkeeper who needs things to get meaningful again. Skinner looks like someone who’s fine if they never do that.
And as the games start to matter more during the postseason, the noise also gets louder and the margins get thinner. Suddenly that difference is no longer theoretical.
The Oilers decided to make a huge left turn this season
Now the Oilers are rolling into the net with a much different look. Skinner is gone, Calvin Picard is off waivers and suddenly Jarry and Connor Ingram are the new bets. That’s a big turnaround: Skinner and Picard struggled last season, but they still took Edmonton further than most thought possible.
Now the Oilers are betting big on Jarry and Ingram, and it’s a gamble — not just on their skills, but on whether his ethos fits the team.
#Skinner #Jarry #goalie #fit #Oilers #game