Scriven On A Prayer?

The Edmonton Oilers made a trade a few weeks back with the LA Kings, dealing a 3rd round pick for goalie Ben Scrivens. Since the deal, Scrivens has posted a .948 save percentage and kept Edmonton in every game. Have the Oilers, after cycling through countless goalies, finally found their starter?

Mark Spector asked the question today on twitter, and it got me thinking. Is Scrivens the guy for the Oilers? Is he Edmonton’s first starter since Dwayne Roloson left in the summer of 2009? I’m not sure we can 100% answer that question, but Scrivens is certainly making a case, and in my mind has already earned a spot on next year’s team.

Scrivens gives Edmonton something they haven’t had in a long while, and that’s a goalie that competes and shows battle in the net. There is something about Scrivens that screams different from Devan Dubnyk, Jason Labarbera, Nikolai Khabibulin and others. That something? Scrivens is never out of a play, and gives his team a chance to win every single night. That is so important for a team like Edmonton, and probably would have changed the start of their season.

Scrivens has put together an awesome stretch here, and has provided the Oilers with consistent goaltending in his games with the team. It’s more than most goalies can say that have come here, and that is a really good sign. Scrivens is handling tough nights, dealing with over 30 shots everytime he takes the ice, it’s not easy, but he is getting it done.

His save percentage, which many Oilers fans felt would tumble off a cliff, has actually risen. Earlier in this piece I mentioned how his SV% is .948 in Edmonton, while it was a sparkling .931 in LA. Many doubted he could keep his play up, but he has to this point, and this is an awesome sign for Edmonton.

I had the honor of seeing him live in Boston last Saturday, and his performance was quite impressive. Many people in the Garden, self included, attributed the Oilers keeping the game close to Scrivens. The same can be said for the team’s wins against both San Jose and the Rangers. Scrivens has, simply put, been money.

Now, this could very well be a strong stretch of games, and nothing more. He was playing behind arguably the best defense in the NHL in LA, and could very well just be hot right now. We have seen both Nikolai Khabibulin and Devan Dubnyk do this exact thing before. We can’t for certain say Scrivens is the answer, but he is certainly trying to prove that he is.

The rest of the season will be a big test. If Scrivens can keep this play up for the most part, then he very well could be Edmonton’s answer in between the pipes. If not, then Edmonton has the option of looking to the free agent market for a starting goalie next season.

I’m not going to go overboard because of a solid stretch, but I think Spector brings up a very good point. Scrivens was a good backup for Toronto and Los Angeles, and has looked like a number one in Edmonton. His save percentage has gone up, and the compete he shows in the net is reminiscent of Dwayne Roloson. He might not be the answer, but he certainly is making a case to be the answer.

If Scrivens is to continue this play, then maybe Craig MacTavish has solved his puzzle in between the pipes. If that is the case, then this summer’s job just got a lot easier. It’s very early, and certainly is a very small sample size, but so far so good for Ben Scrivens. Is Scriven on a prayer about to become a thing? We’ll find out in very short order, and I’d wager there’s a good chance it is.