Mike Smith will start in Game 2 for the Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers are sticking with Mike Smith.

As Jason Gregor reported, Smith will be the team’s starter for Game 2 against the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night.

There had been some speculation that Jay Woodcroft and Co. might opt to roll with Mikko Koskinen instead of Smith after the veteran had a mental gaffe late in Game 1 that ultimately played a major role in the team dropping the first game of their series with the Kings.

Instead, it’ll be Smith getting the nod as he searches for his first-ever playoff win as a member of the Edmonton Oilers. Smith is currently on a 10-game playoff losing streak that dates back to his time with the Calgary Flames. To be fair to Smith, he has an .898 save percentage during that streak and played well enough to win in over half of the games.

It isn’t much of a surprise that the Oilers are going back to Smith here given how well he played for the team down the stretch. After an up-and-down season riddled with injuries, Smith found his groove down the stretch, winning nine games in a row with a .951 save percentage to finish the season.

If that’s the version of Mike Smith that shows up for the rest of this series, the Oilers will be more than fine.