Matheson: Skinner shined bright and played a big part in Oilers ...

23 days ago

Edmonton Journal

Stuart Skinner silenced a lot of critics after his strong performance throughout the entire series against the Dallas Stars

Oilers Game 6 - Figure 1 — Photo Edmonton Journal

Published Jun 03, 2024 • Last updated 2 hours ago • 5 minute read

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner (right) and Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger shake hands after Edmonton beat Dallas 2-1 in Game 6 of the Western Conference final at Rogers Place on June 2, 2024 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Photo by Codie McLachlan /Getty Images

Going into the third-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars, the prevailing loud opinion was Edmonton had the stars but the Stars were deeper and Jake Oettinger was a cut above Stuart Skinner in a battle of goaltenders.

Net result: they were definitely wrong about the crease.

Skinner wasn’t just as good as Oettinger, he was better through the six games, giving up just 12 goals, especially in Game 6 when the Stars outshot the Oilers 35-10. The Oilers were in a prevent offence after their three shots (two goals) in the first 20, with five in the second period and just two in last 20, but Skinner, who’s likely going against Jordan Binnington to see who Canada’s starter is in next year’s Four Nations tournament and the 2026 Olympics, wouldn’t break.

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Oettinger, in the running for the net on Team USA in the same tournaments, gave up 16 in the six games against the Oilers, but he gave up 12 goals in the last four games, that resulted in three wins for the Oilers.

After Skinner bested Oettinger 3-2 in a dandy double OT win in Game 1, Hall of Famer and five-time Oiler Cup winning goalie Grant Fuhr, agreed that the puck stops with the goaltender in the playoffs. After the Game 6 Skinner show on a night when he wasn’t making 10-bell saves but the puck was bouncing all around the crease in rush-hour traffic, with Dallas throwing 64 shots at his net (21 blocked, 18 wide) to 24 (eight blocked, six wide) for the Oilers on Oettinger, Skinner had the upper-hand.

“I do think your goalie has to steal a game somewhere along the line over the course of the playoffs,” said Fuhr.

Prescient words from one of the 100 greatest players of all-time Fuhr.

Dallas winger Jason Robertson had almost as many shots (9) by himself on Skinner as the Oilers’ collection of skaters managed on Oettinger, Only seven skaters had had shots on Oettinger, with Zach Hyman (3) and Connor McDavid (two shots) getting the goals.

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McDavid has his doctorate in stick handling. He turned Miro Heiskanen, one of the best defencemen in the world, into a bag of pretzels after some dazzling shimmies and shakes four minutes into the contest for his goal, but there was no dancing post-game.

Oilers Game 6 - Figure 3 — Photo Edmonton Journal

“We’re not sitting up here talking about a win but for Stu…,were on a plane back to Dallas,” said McDavid of an avoided Game 7.

Bounced back

Instead, they’re on a plane to Florida for the Stanley Cup final against Florida this weekend, heady stuff for the local boy who was cheering Dwayne Roloson and the Oilers as they last got to the Cup final in 2006. It was another in a series of bounce-back games for Skinner, who has been 6-2 since being pulled from the pipes after Game 3 against Vancouver.

Did Skinner, who took a long road, starting in the East Coast Hockey League and is in just his second full season as an NHL starter, ever think he’d be in the Cup final after that slow road to the NHL?

“If you’d asked me that five or six years (ago), I would probably (say) you were crazy. It’s very cool…uh, it’s a lot more than cool. Friends, family here, growing up in this city. Pretty incredible and it’s been awhile for us to be in this spot now, “said Skinner, who grew up in Sherwood Park and was only six-years-old made their last improbable run to the Stanley Cup final against Carolina.

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Skinner, now 25, still remembers Roloson’s heroics and so do the fans here who gave Roloson a thunderous ovation when they showed his picture on the big screen at Rogers Place as he sat in a box.

“Of course I watching Roli the Goalie (Roloson) back then. He was my idol. Pretty cool he came to this game, too. I saw him in the morning for a chat and we were able to have this moment with him in the building,” said Skinner.

Fuhr wasn’t here. He lives in Palm Springs today and is a commentator on the AHL Coachella Valley games, currently in the Western Conference final, but he was here in spirit. And, like Fuhr, Skinner made the saves at the right times, in tight games with the Oilers ahead.

“Grant was incredible at that, a Hall of Famer, a Stanley Cup champion and I’ve been able to have conversations with him. Pretty cool to be in a situation today like he’s been in, but he’s done it quite a few more times than I have,” said Skinner.

Oilers Game 6 - Figure 4 — Photo Edmonton Journal

“Being a local kid, this is a bit of the cherry on the top (getting to a Cup final) but there’s a lot more sprinkles to put on the sundae… we’ve got four more big games (Florida) to make it even more special,” said Skinner.

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Top of his game

Since returning to the crease in Game 6 against Vancouver, Skinner has been at the top of his game, and played a big role in helping the Oilers win the series against Dallas.

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner makes a save off his blocker in front of Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson during Game 6 of the Western Conference final at Rogers Place in Edmonton on June 2, 2024. Photo by Shaughn Butts /Postmedia

“It was obviously a good time for me to reset, get some rest and really do what I’m here to do,” said Skinner, who gave up goal to Mason Marchment midway through the third which silenced the crowd, with everybody holding their breath and looking up at the scoreboard to see how much time was left (10:42)

In the third, he robbed rookie Logan Stankoven a few minutes after the Marchment goal, then survived mosh-pit of Stars players crowding him in the dying seconds.

“Grateful I was able to get back and play the games I did, getting the win in Game 7 in Vancouver and bring that momentum into the Dallas series. That was really massive for myself personally. But there’s no way I have these numbers without the guys in front of me,” he said.

After the Game 6 win, one of the Oilers media suggest it may have been the greatest game Skinner’s ever played as an Oiler?

“I don’t know if it was the greatest… I appreciate that (thought), though. I just think it was a hard-fought battle throughout, every game was tight, it was close, they challenged us,” said Skinner, who only had one goal in the series he wanted back, the Robertson tuck along the post for the winner in Game 3.

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Skinner has said that goalies do want to measure themselves against the guy in the other net, especially at playoff time, it’s not just team vs team, although he wasn’t going that far in the victorious bathhouse.

“I wasn’t thinking too much about that to be honest. I don’t know if Oetter (Oettinger) was either. Obviously you want to play better but Oetter is an incredible goalie. I wasn’t able to get all the words out (handshake line) to him but it’s been incredible to watch him year in, year out. He’s one of the best goalies in the world,” said Skinner.

Today, Skinner doesn’t have to take a back seat to anybody else, though.

“Stu’s been through a lot, a lot of people have doubted him but he likes proving people wrong. He’s an elite goaltender in this league,” said McDavid.

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