The noise around the Edmonton Oilers’ goaltending has quieted down in the last week, as since the team’s 8-3 blowout loss to the Dallas Stars, things have improved.

It’s just a three-game stretch, mind you, but the Oilers have gone 2-1 with a pair of wins over the Kraken, in which Edmonton outscored them 13-4, mixing in a 1-0 loss to the Wild. A combined .939 save percentage in those games has helped.

But the quiet parts got loud Friday night when rumours — which would turn out to be baseless — swirled the Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins were nearing a deal that would send goaltender Tristan Jarry to the city he played his WHL hockey in.

Saturday morning, things were shot down by TSN’s Ryan Rishaug, who posted on X that there were “no goaltending deals done for the Oilers despite some wild speculation otherwise.” As he would add, “things can always change,” but it appears to be all quiet on the Western Front.

Earlier this week, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta was on Oilersnation Everyday, where he reported the Oilers and Penguins have had some talks about Jarry.

“The indications I got was there were some discussions, but honestly, I don’t think it got anywhere other than the inquiry phase, maybe a level above,” he said. “I’ve been saying it for the last few weeks with you guys: I don’t see a scenario where anything’s going to happen with the goaltending from an impactful perspective anytime soon.

“And I think everyone needs to start accepting that. I know it’s wishful thinking that ‘maybe now there’s this guy, maybe now there’s that guy…’ (The Oilers) don’t have the cap space.”

Skinner’s save percentage has ticked up in recent starts, even beyond that loss to the Stars. In his last four starts, dating back to Edmonton’s 6-3 win over the Florida Panthers, he’s posted a .917 save percentage, a 2.74 goals against average, while saving 5.95 goals above expected, according to Evolving Hockey.

It coincides with a better stretch of hockey as a whole from the Oilers, who will look to keep it up Saturday night when the Winnipeg Jets roll into town, and into next week with the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings making stops in Edmonton, too.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.