Kris Knoblauch sounds off on the Oilers goaltending problems.

The Edmonton Oilers have a goaltending problem.

That much was evident on Saturday night when the Oilers suffered a historically bad loss on home ice, losing to the Colorado Avalanche by the lopsided score of 9-1. While the entire team has to be blamed when it comes to an effort that poor, there's no question that goaltending was once again the focus of the problems when it comes to the Oilers.

It was goaltender Stuart Skinner who started the game in goal but that wouldn't last very long. Skinner would make just 9 saves on the first 13 shots he faced, giving up 4 goals to the Avalanche, and was quickly pulled in the second period after recording a comically bad save percentage of .692. In fact it would have been even worse if not for a successful offside challenge from the Oilers coaching staff that negated another goal that had gotten past Skinner. It was the fourth time Skinner has been pulled already this season.

That forced the Oilers to turn to goaltender Calvin Pickard in relief but there was no relief to be found from the offensive onslaught of the Avalanche. Pickard himself would give up 5 more goals, finishing his night with 16 saves on 21 shots, good for a terrible .762 save percentage.

Following the conclusion of the game, head coach Kris Knoblauch was critical of the effort from his players but may have accidentally said too much. Knoblauch admitted that goaltending was at the heart of the issue when he revealed that his players felt deflated after Skinner gave up back to back goals on shots he had a clear line of sight to, with little to no traffic in front of him.

"After the first goal there was a lot of deflation, especially after the second one after the face off," confirmed Knoblauch.

Knoblauch was then asked if he feels his team has lost faith in their goaltending, and his answer here may have been even more damning.

"I...," said Knoblauch pausing for a second time before answering the question. "I don't believe so. I think there's been games where our goaltending has been good. The chances and the amount of chances that we've given up has not helped."

Although Knoblauch did go to bat for his goaltenders with the words that he spoke, the two extended pauses as he contemplated his answer may have revealed more than Knoblauch intended when it comes to how he really feels about the situation.

You can hear Knoblauch's full comments on the game in the short clip below: