2 weeks Ago
LOS ANGELES – Nobody’s quite saying it explicitly — not publicly, anyway — but Stuart Skinner has to be losing his grip on the starting goaltender job for the Edmonton Oilers. That coach Kris Knoblauch wouldn’t declare the net Skinner’s for Game 2 on Tuesday spoke volumes about where this team is with its most important position. Advertisement “I haven’t decided,” he said.
Even if Knoblauch had offered a full-throated endorsement of Skinner, questioning his status is only natural. It’s the only logical conclusion to draw after he allowed six goals on 30 shots as his entry point to the playoffs following a season that could charitably be described as uneven. And then factor in Calvin Pickard’s 22 wins, .
900 save percentage and capable netminding down the stretch when his partner was sidelined with a concussion. So, is Skinner feeling any pressure about his No. 1 spot? “No,” he said.
“Not at all.” Skinner was excellent for a two-month stretch from the end of November to the end of January, during which he was one of the best netminders in the NHL. That, combined with helping the Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last year, gives him tons of clout.
Don’t forget how good he was from Game 4 onward in each series. But the more recent sample size of inconsistent puck-stopping is growing larger. Skinner’s numbers overall were poor in 2024-25.
He posted a .896 save percentage and allowed 4.25 more goals than the league average in all situations, per Natural Stat Trick.
And then there was his Game 1 performance on Monday, an outing that ranged somewhere between lousy and unfortunate. Knoblauch broke down each of the goals Skinner surrendered a day later and could only find some fault in the second one, which was banked in by Quinton Byfield. “It’s not too often I can say I’m happy with my goalie after six goals against,” Knoblauch said.
“But you look at the chances they had.” There were two power-play goals, the second of which came on a five-on-three when Kevin Fiala got a cross-ice pass and ripped a shot by Skinner. Knoblauch felt his goalie had “absolutely zero chance” on either of them.
There were the two unfettered chances in front following bad turnovers by Evan Bouchard that resulted in goals by Adrian Kempe and Phillip Danault. Advertisement “We made some big mistakes that led to goals against,” Knoblauch said. “There were goals that we just too easy for them to score.
” Then there was Danault’s winner, a bizarro knuckler that Skinner said he never saw thanks to a flash screen by former Oiler Warren Foegele. That was scored in the final minute, one shift after Connor McDavid tied the game. “Letting in the sixth goal, as a team, that was just obviously not the time to do it,” Skinner said.
“It’s the time just to survive and get into overtime. But that stuff happens.” Really, there wasn’t a downright stinker in the lot.
In fact, when you put his night’s work up against counterpart Darcy Kuemper, a likely Vezina Trophy finalist, Skinner probably reigns supreme. “It’s tough to fault him on many of them,” McDavid said. “What are you going to do when you’ve got guys standing in the slot by themselves? Those are freebies that are tough on him.
We’ve got to do a better job at protecting that area and managing the puck a little better and defending that slot area, too.” But there just weren’t many key saves by Skinner, either, or certainly not enough of them, and the more accomplished goalie this season, Kuemper, got the win. “If you let in six goals in this league, you’re probably not going to be winning the game,” Skinner said.
“Even if you let four, you probably don’t got a good chance of winning. In a situation like that, letting in six, especially in the playoffs, you’re more so looking at the score and trying to keep things within a goal.” That didn’t happen in Game 1 as the Kings built up leads of 4-0 and 5-2 before the Oilers charged back.
Aside from injuries and the uncertain makeup of the lineup, Skinner entered the playoffs as the Oilers’ biggest wild card. His up-and-down play, by his own standards , especially in the lead-up to the trade deadline, had many fans and pundits calling on the Oilers management to upgrade on him between the pipes. Advertisement Instead GM Stan Bowman was insistent, telling anyone who’d listen, including The Athletic multiple times , that getting a new goaltender wasn’t a priority and getting better defensive play was the ticket to success.
Taking that stance seemed suitable given Skinner’s solid-but-not-spectacular playoffs last season, the dearth of goalie options possibly on the trade market, cap issues with Evander Kane’s injuries and needing to upgrade the roster in other areas. Then there was the concussion Skinner suffered on March 26 when the Dallas Stars’ Mikko Rantanen inadvertently kneed him in the head. That injury prevented Skinner from playing for eight games, although he did back up Pickard in the last of those contests.
Skinner made two starts before the season ended, making 35 of a possible 36 saves. That was enough to secure his starting role. “That’s the way you want to finish a season,” Skinner said.
“Playoff hockey’s a lot different than the regular season. So whatever happened yesterday is in the past.” It was clear Skinner was always on a short leash entering the postseason.
Much like Tuesday, Knoblauch didn’t eliminate doubts about Skinner upon his return from injury when he said he’d play the goaltender he felt would give the Oilers the best chance to win to start the playoffs. Then, last Saturday, he said he’d both netminders would get action in the playoffs, which was the case last season when Pickard was used for seven straight periods in the middle of the second round. We’re getting close to Pickard time again, but it we’re not there yet.
Skinner deserves more leeway. “We have lots of faith in him,” McDavid said. “We have lots of belief in him.
“We’ve won lots of games with him, and him stealing games for us.” Going away from him after just one iffy start — not a horrible one by any means — exudes panic. There’s no reason to go down that road yet, not after the Oilers nearly pulled off a stirring comeback win that ended in a loss Knoblauch called “heartbreaking.
” Advertisement “I have no issues with Stuart Skinner’s game (on Monday),” Knoblauch said. “Calvin Pickard’s come in and played a lot of games and won a lot. We have to balance on where we are in the series, when we could have a change, when the goalie hasn’t played very well.
There are lots of things to consider.” But another start like Monday’s, and certainly anything worse, and Knoblauch will have a lot more to consider. And it’s hard to see how he’ll have any choice but to swap his goalies.
Lineup updates • Winger Evander Kane is getting closer to a return. Knoblauch expects him to play in one of the next three games. “It should be soon,” he said.
• Forward Trent Frederic skated just 1:04 in the third period in Game 1. Knoblauch said that had nothing to do with lingering effects from his ankle injury, adding the Oilers pressing for goals and the abundance of special teams time in the frame caused Frederic’s limited minutes. • Defenceman John Klingberg is available for Game 2 and could be an option after Josh Brown played just 4:54 in Game 1.
(Top photo: Leila Devlin / Getty Images).
