After all these years, have the Edmonton Oilers finally found a goalie?

One save.

On Tuesday night at Rogers Place that was the difference between a total collapse and a 6-1-1 team continuing its roll.

In a script we saw too many times last season, the Edmonton Oilers gifted away a couple of goals in the second half of the third period to let a 3-1 lead dissolve into a 3-3 tie. The way Minnesota’s top line was swarming the offensive zone it seemed only a matter of time before the choke was complete.

Then, with four minutes to play, and the puck on Joel Eriksson Ek’s stick in the Edmonton slot, Minnesota took its kill shot. But before the crowd could even finish its gasp, Devon Levi slid across the crease, flashed his right pad and kept it 3-3.

It was the difference between a team continuing its roll with a measuring stick victory or wrestling with embarrassment and self-doubt.

It’s a save the Oilers weren’t getting last year. Or the year before that. Or for much of the entire Connor McDavid era. Even when they advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals, the stats showed it was despite their netminding, not because of it.

That’s why they changed their entire goaltending platoon last season (Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard out, Tristan Jarry and Connor Ingram in), and its why they revamped it again this year, going three goalies deep (Levi, Jarry and Frederik Andersen).

And while this isn’t quite how anyone thought it would go — Andersen and/or Jarry were expected to be the difference makers — the undersized 24-year-old insurance policy with almost no NHL experience is rising up to save the day.

“He’s been amazing for us all year,” said defenceman Evan Bouchard, after Levi improved to 5-1 on the season with a 27-save effort against the Wild. “It’s comfort knowing that he has your back when things don’t go the way you expect them.”

They weren’t going the way Mike Babcock expected when the Oilers began to wilt under Minnesota’s third-period attack, but Levi never let it get from bad to worse. If he doesn’t make that save, or a handful of beauties earlier in the game, Tuesday night is a total disaster.

“It was a broken play, I think,” said Levi, who has a .930 save percentage in his last five starts. “Someone threw it at the net and it hit a skate and kind of popped out. I knew there was a guy in the high slot waiting and just kind of sitting on it, so I caught my edge and pushed.”

On a night headed for a really bad ending, one save changed everything. Bouchard scored in overtime, Edmonton picked up two points against a tough opponent, improved to 7-1-1, and everyone went home happy.

“The end of the game is the best time in the game,” he grinned. “When it’s tied, the pressure is on and I live for those moments, it’s so fun.”

It’s no surprise that Levi is loving every bit of this. A year ago he was spinning his wheels in Buffalo. Last summer he was low man on the totem pole in a three-goalie system. Now he’s the starter on a team off to its best start in years.

Cool.

“I’m super grateful to be here. This city is unbelievable, a true hockey city. I care a lot about these fans, they have welcomed me with open arms and the team here as well. I feel at home. I’m just super grateful for the way that everything kind of unfolded and I’m having a lot of fun every day.”

While Levi is just 24, with only 45 career NHL games, and he wasn’t drafted until the seventh round (Florida, 2020) and he’s only six feet tall, he has a history of this stuff.

He was MVP in leading Northeastern University to a Beanpot tournament championship in 2023. He is the first to ever win the Mike Richter Award as the NCAA’s top goaltender twice. He was named top goalie of the tournament at the 2021 World Juniors. His .942 save percentage over two NCAA seasons is second only to Connor Hellebuyck.

So maybe he’s young and maybe the pedigree isn’t there and maybe he isn’t the prototypical six-foot-five goalie, but he can play. And he knows it.

“I know what I’m capable of,” he said. “I didn’t really come in here and try to prove anything. At this point of my development, I kind of know who I am and I just wanted to come in and have fun and play with the best players in the world. Come into an amazing environment and enjoy myself. It’s such a pleasure to be here.”

And a pleasure to have him, according to Babcock.

“He’s ultra-competitive. What I like about Levi every day I walk in here, he’s got a smile on his face, he’s always working out, he’s always working, he’s competitive as can be. He feels good about himself. He just seems like a great kid. What’s his record, 5-1? Not a bad record. Good for him.”

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