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Canwest News Service
Nikolai Khabibulin has had a stellar National Hockey League career, but the Edmonton Oilers new goaltender concedes his work through training camp and the first league game has been spotty.
On the face of it, Khabibulin’s play since joining the Oilers has had several blemishes, and not just the giveaway to Calgary’s David Moss for the winning goal in the last minute of Saturday’s 4-3 season-opening loss to the Flames.
After an 18-save, 4-0 shutout of Florida in his first pre-season game against the Florida Panthers on Sept. 18, he’s allowed 12 goals in his last 72 shots.
“There’s been some positives and some negatives . . . right now it’s a little uneven,” said Khabibulin, who is one win shy of 300 for his career, which would put him in an exclusive club of only 24 NHL goaltenders. “I haven’t played my best yet.”
After the perfect night against Florida, he gave up four goals in 40 minutes to the Flames (at least two of them suspect), before dehydration issues forced him from the net in exhibition action on Sept. 23. Then he surrendered four against the Canucks to end the pre-season (through no fault of his), and another four in his 21 shots to the Flames Saturday to kick off the Oilers’ regular season.
“The whole team played well against Florida and we were all over them the whole game. Last few games, there were some good things, some bad bounces,” said Khabibulin, who shrugged off his pre-season numbers. “I’ve never known what my stats are in exhibition. They’re not on hockey cards. You won’t find them in any hockey books.
“Exhibitions are for being square (to the shooter), following the rebounds, controlling the rebounds. It’s the best practice you can get, training camp.”
But now, the games count. And there is pressure any time you come to a new team. There’s always the getting-to-know you stage of a relationship.
“I’m trying not to think about that and play the best I can, but, sure, it’s a little bit in the back of my mind,” he said on Monday as the Oilers prepare to face the Dallas Stars Tuesday night at Rexall Place.
The Oilers certainly don’t have the goalie concerns the Toronto Maple Leafs do. Vesa Toskala and Jonas Gustavsson have given up 10 goals in the first 53 shots over two games. Detroit goalies Chris Osgood and Jimmy Howard didn’t win many points with the head coach Mike Babcock, either, in two games against the St. Louis Blues, surrendering 10 in 55 shots in Sweden.
But Khabibulin, who is starting a four-year contract in Edmonton with a cap hit of $3.75 million US, has to be sharper.
The loss to the Flames Saturday when Khabibulin mishandled the puck was one of those things. He’s not about to sweat the big stuff . . . or the small.
“I think everybody’s been through a situation where a mistake cost the team a game . . . they all know how it feels,” he said.
It was only Game 1. There’s still 81 to go. His teammates certainly let him know that.
“I’m not going to say they pumped me up, but they told me not to get down, ” Khabibulin said. “It’s nice that they’re like that, instead of walking by and saying nothing.
“It’s nice to have them rallying around.”
Oilers defenceman Sheldon Souray certainly knows the heat goalies are under.
“It’s obviously the hardest position in hockey. You make a mistake, it’s glaring. Or if the puck ends up in your net, you think, `Why didn’t the goalie save that?’ ” said Souray. “You make fantastic saves, but if you let in a goal that’s in the grey area, people forget about the four great stops earlier.
“But we have to help him out more . . . he’s a good goalie.”
Souray was near Khabibulin on the miscue against Calgary in the last minute where Moss scored on him. Goalies handling the puck is often a scary thing, unless your name is Marty Turco or Martin Brodeur, who are experts at it.
“I come in here and they tell me that Roli likes to play the puck,” said Souray. “But, we don’t know about Khabby yet. We’ll get used to him. It’s about communication. You have breakdowns.”
Oilers head coach Pat Quinn knows Khabibulin has to play better, but says so too does the rest of the team.
“He’s working on getting his timing like a lot of our guys who are trying to find their games right now,” said Quinn. “He’s working hard at it . . . we’ve made some real mistakes in front of him. We need to play better as a team and that includes him.”
jmatheson@thejournal.canwest.com
