All summer and throughout training camp, the Edmonton Oilers coaching staff reiterated the importance of defensive structure.

And just when you thought the Oilers were going to buckle down defensively and start looking like those elite, defensively dominant, Cup-winning New Jersey Devils teams of the late ’90s, they go and win a pond-hockey-like 9-7 game against the Vancouver Canucks in the second game of the season.

And because there is never a dull moment in Oil Country, there are plenty of thoughts to unpack. In this version of Oilers Thoughts, we’ll look at what’s working, what’s not after the first two games of the season, and more.

Jarry and Levi both off to rough starts

The first two games of the regular season served as a reminder that you can’t put too much stock in how a player has performed in the pre-season, no matter how good they’ve looked.

The pre-season outings of Tristan Jarry and Devon Levi had Oilers fans excited that there was going to be a good problem in net, with the question of who deserves more starts as both of them played well. But two games in, and with both netminders giving up 13 goals between them, raise your hand if you have that “not this again” feeling.

Jarry gave up six goals on 23 shots in the season opener, posting a .739 save percentage (SV%), and just when Oilers fans thought it couldn’t get worse, Levi surrendered seven goals, posting a .682 SV% in game number two.

And fingers aren’t pointed entirely at their goaltenders, because the Oilers have some defensive structure to tighten up as well. But after two games, with both netminders fumbling their starts and sitting last (Levi, .682 SV%) and third-last (Jarry, .739 SV%) in the NHL in save percentage at the time of this writing, that’s simply not a recipe for success.

But much like you’ll read throughout the rest of the piece, it’s still very early, and the sky hasn’t fallen just yet. On the flip side, a positive is that Levi picked up his first win as an Oiler and fun fact: his seven goals against are an Oilers franchise record in a road victory.

If Levi had played a solid last game, I would’ve said let him run with the ball from here on out until he drops it. At this point, with both netminders getting off to rough starts, I think you have to go back to Jarry and, just like in previous seasons, rinse and........

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