I’m going to say yes they are, because how many games over his last 10 starts has he given up 3 first period goals? The answer is 5. How many times were they down 3-0 or 4-0 in the first? That answer is 4. Two of those five games it happened against where he gave up 3 goals in the first was Colorado, who they could face in round 1. They fought back to win one of those games they were down 3-0 (Colorado) and lost the other three (Pittsburgh, Vancouver, Toronto). 40% of the time over the last 10 games he’s getting lit up in the first and putting the team in a big hole. That’s not starting goaltender numbers over any 10 game stretch anywhere in a season.
That can’t happen in the playoffs when teams tighten up defensively. The proof is in the pudding with his poor record and poor stats against higher ranked teams he’s not a good goalie. Nobody on that team is going to publicly call him out, unless JT Miller was an Oiler but they see what we see. They’re professional hockey players, they’re being professional but I’d guarantee there are text messages and private conversations amongst some players how they’d like better goaltending.
I see the Oilers goaltending as being very similar to the 05/06 team right now, pre-trade deadline. We saw what getting a better goalie can do to a team’s confidence.