Encouraging week for the Oilers

Even without their starting goalie, the Edmonton Oilers won a pair of home games this week, beating Colorado 6-4 and then blanking Phoenix 4-0 on Monday. So the question is going to be asked, Do the Oilers need Nikolai Khabibulin?

I believe they do. Goalies don’t age the way NFL running backs and baseball catchers do, so being a veteran doesn’t necessarily mean being old and immobile. Martin Brodeur and Dom Hasek come to mind immediately.

But almost as necessary these days is a second, younger goalie who can swoop in when the old man needs a break or when the old man just runs out. Jeff Deslauriers seems to be that guy for Edmonton, even though shutting out Phoenix – which has the fourth fewest goals in the Western Conference – is no mighty feat.

He has stepped in admirably while Khabibulin tries to get healthy again, with a modest 2.48 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. That’s enough for a backup.

What he really needs, though, is some help from the Edmonton defense. And with Sheldon Souray, Steve Staios and Lubomir Visnovsky all back in the lineup on Monday, it looks like he should start to get it. Edmonton relies on its defenders more than most teams do – for scoring and defense alike.

Undoubtedly it was the lack of such help that Khabibulin struggled on many nights this season, and it is at least partially to blame for his 3.03 goals against average, which ranks a meager 37th in the NHL.

The Oilers need him Khabibulin to get healthy, if for no other reason than he’s a steady veteran presence who won’t get worse simply because of his age. They can’t ride Deslauriers for too long, either. He’s young, and young players are better in moderation (see the Wild’s rotating goaltenders from the past eight years and the slow development of Rick DiPietro and Marc-Andre Fleury).

Again, though, the fact the Oilers returned some veterans on the back line will account much more for their success or failures the rest of the season than the question of whomever is playing in net.

Tags: Deslauriers, Edmonton Oilers, Khabibulin