Oilers cap perfect weekend with another shutout

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers and shutouts. They don’t exactly go together like Jack and Coke, if you know what we mean.

Since the Oilers entered the NHL in the 1979-80 season until now, 33 teams have played in the league. The Oilers rank 27th in shutouts, behind a Florida Panthers team that has played more than 1,100 fewer games and an Arizona franchise that was never any good, truth be told.

But here’s Edmonton, with back-to-back shutouts on back-to-back days. Tristan Jarry shut out the woeful Vancouver Canucks 6-0 on Saturday, and Connor Ingram — who is starting to look like one of the best trades in the league this season — goose-egged the St. Louis Blues 5-0 on Sunday.

The last time the Oilers had shutouts on back-to-back days? Jussi Markkanen and Tommy Salo, 24 years ago.

And one of those was against the Atlanta Thrashers!

“We were giving up a lot of goals early in the season,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch, whose team is ranked a season-high 17th in goals against per game. “I think that had to do with our puck play. But that being said, when you’re getting the saves, that is the biggest point. And our goalies have been playing really well right now.”

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When you watch the Oilers half-assing their way through October and November, winning games 5-3, losing them 4-3, it can be hard to believe they are back-to-back Western Conference champions. Then they pick up their defensive game, and you are reminded that even the best offensive players in the sport can and will play the kind of responsible hockey required to make the long runs folks have become accustomed to here.

Now, what if the Edmonton Oilers added superior goaltending to that mix?

What if one of Connor Ingram, who stopped 27 pucks to run his save percentage to .917 Sunday, or Tristan Jarry — who is at .907 after a tidy Saturday night in Vancouver — gave the Oilers considerably better goaltending than Stuart Skinner has the past two seasons?

What if both did?

As for Ingram, he’s rebuilt his career after some time in the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program. The Oilers hoped he could possibly return to the form he showed in posting back-to-back .907 save percentages with Arizona from 2022-24.

Now, he might be even better than that — playing behind a team that knows how to win.

“This team is built a lot different than that team was,” Ingram said of the Coyotes. “We had some wild years down there in Arizona before we kind of figured it out. So (I’ll) just try and keep it going as long as I can.”

He’s a recovering OCD patient who shies away from any big-picture questions. Ingram is relentless in his quest to keep his world small.

“Any day you’re in the NHL is a good day, no matter where you are or what you’re doing,” the Imperial, Sask., native said when asked about the rest of the season. “I mean, (Edmonton) is the mecca of hockey in Western Canada. This is what you watch growing up. This is one of the nicest buildings in the NHL. So just to be a part of it for however long it’ll be, is something I’ll remember for a long time.”

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On Ryan Nugent-Hopkins night at Rogers Place, Ingram made sure Nuge’s game-opener — a bullet wrist shot that ripped high over Jordan Binnington’s blocker — stood up as the winner.

“I think it went as good as a night like tonight can go,” Ingram said. “It’s a big day for Nuge, a big day for the organization, and everything seemed to click. I mean, playing your 1,000th game and you score the game-winner? It doesn’t get much better than that.”

What’s Ingram’s life like these days?

“My life’s just hockey,” he shrugged. “There are a couple days a week I don’t even make it outside. I just walk through the pedway (from the JW Marriott) over here. I sleep and play hockey right now — it’s an easy life.

“I miss my family, I miss my dogs. But right now it’s just simple. And I think that’s helping.”

His wife and dogs are still in Bakersfield, where Edmonton’s farm team is located.

“I’ve got two dogs down there, so somebody’s got to look after them. Poor Sarah’s down there by herself,” he said.

With Team Canada GM Doug Armstrong in the building, Zach Hyman scored twice — his 18th and 19th goals in 31 games this season, after recovering from that dislocated wrist.

With Brayden Point injured and iffy to play in Milan, does Hyman feel like he made a good impression Sunday?

“You can ask (Armstrong) the questions, because I don’t have answers for you,” smiled Hyman, who has now scored 17 goals in his last 20 games.

OIL SPILLS — Nugent-Hopkins becomes just the 10th player in NHL history to score in his first and 1,000th games … The Oilers have never recorded back-to-back shutouts in franchise history when scoring five-plus goals in each contest … Edmonton closes a stretch of five games in seven days with a 3-1-1 record, having given up just five goals in regulation — three in an OT loss to Nashville.