‘I have to take care of my own house’

Oilers goalie Scrivens admits he must improve

Ben Scrivens certainly will fall on his own sword, even if there is enough culpability for egregious errors throughout the Edmonton Oilers’ roster through the first four games that nobody should be off the hook.

“I can’t throw any body under the bus when I’m playing like this,” admitted the beleaguered goalie, who has given up 14 goals in 70 shots for the 0-3-1 Oilers with the Vancouver Canucks next on the playbill Friday at Rexall Place.

“I have to take care of my own house.”

Scrivens, who was otherworldly much of last season after the Oilers acquired him from the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round draft pick, has crashed to Earth in the 160 minutes he’s played this year.

True, it’s a very small sample size, but his save percentage today is exactly .800, never a good thing when .900 is thought to be only passable.

Several of the pucks going in on Scrivens come courtesy shots Mr. Goalie Glenn Hall would have been helpless on in his day — standalone shots with three or four steamboats of time to unload — but there are some that are leaking through him like Mikkel Boedker’s back hand for the Arizona Cototes’ fifth goal in what would become a 7-4 win over the Oilers.

As discombobulated as the Oilers have been in their end, or giving the puck away up ice to start rushes for the opposition, they needed a save there from Scrivens. His puck-handling has also been sloppy, with two or three giveaways for goals in his starts.

That said, he has also been hung out to dry, as has the injured Viktor Fasth (seven goals in 54 shots), by tepid or non-existent checking in front of both goalies.

As with goalie Devan Dubnyk last October, it’s an overall team malaise defensively. They’ve given up 22 goals (one of them emptynet) in the four games in 124 shots, eight goals in the first period.

You win when you’re playing the game the right way, and that’s taking care of your own end before making things difficult in the other.

“I don’t think it can get any worse than it (the start) was last year,” said Oilers winger Taylor Hall, the engine that drives this team.

Hall was terrific in Arizona with two goals and a Gretzky-like saucer pass to Mark Arcobello for a goal — a threat on most shifts, shrugging off hits, including one where he was spilled facefirst into the boards.

“I’m the first to say I need to be better.”

Ben scrivens

He’s loathe to turn the clock back, but he’s fully cognizant that it looks like the same-old story in which the goals are going in against the Oilers at an alarming rate.

“We can’t be playing and worrying about that. No doubt, a 0-3-1 start is a tough start, but there’s still ground to make up,” said Hall.

Oilers captain Andrew Ference, who had his fill of seeing teams score easy goals last season in the first six or seven weeks when they won four of their first 20, is seeing the same picture show now.

“One of the most glaring negatives last year was our defensive play,” said Ference. “There are only so many ‘A’ quality chances teams can get night after night. We’re focusing on getting rid of those and obviously you can’t win when you have to score six or seven goals a night.”

The Oilers keep seeing the error of their ways.

“I think the effort’s been there but obviously I’m biased,” said Ference. “We’re in the right areas but it’s a couple of feet here or there (from a shooter or a check) and we’re making mistakes. We’re giving teams great opportunities. That’s our downfall right now.”

But the goalie is the last line of defence. Scrivens’ game needs major improvement.

“It’s only two games,” said Scrivens, who figures it’s an awfully small test size to jump off a bridge over.

That said, he’s not dancing away from responsibility.

“I’m the first to say I need to be better,” he said. “We’re trying to play a different style here, a style that will allow us to win. Do you want us to sit back and play the style Phoenix does (except in a 7-4 game as it was on Wednesday), or another team? We’ve got enough skill to score goals when we figure this (defensive awareness) out.” ON THE BENCH: The Oilers have recalled Martin Marincin from OKC after a message-sending demotion to start the season. He played 44 games on defence last year and hopefully can calm things down back there.