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Edmonton Oilers hoping to rebuild Brossoit’s confidence after tough third period in Calgary

Calgary Flames' Sam Bennett scores on Edmonton Oilers goalie Laurent Brossoit during third period NHL hockey action in Calgary, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017. Mike Drew/The Canadian Press

The Edmonton Oilers were back at practice on Monday for the first time since Saturday’s 7-5 win over the Calgary Flames.

During that game, the Oilers appeared to be in cruise control when Patrick Maroon scored 1:28 into the third period to put the Oilers up 6-1. That lead though, would quickly start to evaporate as the Flames scored four straight third period goals on goaltender Laurent Brossoit to cut the lead to 6-5 with 7:40 left in regulation.

The Oilers were able to hold off the Flames surge when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins added an insurance marker late in the period. The Oilers escaped Calgary with the win, but it’s fair to wonder how that third period will affect Brossoit’s confidence moving forward.

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“Certainly rebuilding LB [Brossoit] right now is one of our goals,” Oilers head coach Todd McLellan said after practice on Monday. “It’s not like he’s completely broken, but we need to make sure he gets a little bit of confidence.”

“It’s a good learning curve,” added Brossoit who admitted he lost a bit of focus during the third period. “I assessed the game honestly and there were goals I wasn’t happy with.

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“I wouldn’t be in the league if those are goals that I’m happy with. I played the score and the lesson was learned and I’ll be better for it.”

The question now is, do the Oilers go back to Brossoit on Wednesday when they play the Philadelphia Flyers?

“We created a number of drills in practice that I think addressed some of LB’s needs or our goaltending needs,” McLellan said. “It should also help us offensively, so we tied that in as well. We have one more day to polish that position and everybody else’s up.”

READ MORE: Brandon Davidson thrilled to be back with Edmonton Oilers

McLellan said he hasn’t made a decision yet on who will be in the Oilers net on Wednesday.

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The good news for Brossoit is that it doesn’t appear that he’s lost the faith of his teammates.

“That was one of the positive things. We did get the win and they were all sympathetic to the way I played and they knew that I would be hard on myself and I was,” he said. “They were very supportive and helped me move on from it for sure.”

With starting goaltender Cam Talbot on injured reserve, the only other option on the roster for the Oilers in goal is Nick Ellis who has yet to play in an NHL game.

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