“They just need a moment or an opportunity to make that play,” Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the Oilers picked up a nail-biting OT win against the Vegas Golden Knights on May 8. However, the veteran coach probably didn’t know it would be him on the receiving end of such a blow just two days later. And Stuart Skinner couldn’t do much to help his coach escape the below-the-belt blow to the guts.
The Oilers have been on a winning streak since they lost the first two matches against the LA Kings in Round 1 of the playoffs. However, despite the 2-0 lead over their second-round opponents, the Golden Knights, the lineup for Game 3 made many fans squeamish. After six games out of the team, Stuart Skinner finally got to start, thanks to Calvin Pickard dealing with an undisclosed injury he likely incurred in Game 2. However, things unfolded just as the fans had feared: the Oilers lost 4-3 in regulation, and Skinner had some explaining to do.
In an X post made by the official Edmonton Oilers account on May 10, Stuart could be heard talking about what went down at Rogers Place for Game 3 between the Pacific Division colleagues. “I had a lot of excitement. First game in a while, first game at home in the playoff. So the energy was really high. So yeah, it was nice to go back in there, not the result that we wanted obviously,” Skinner noted how his enthusiasm to guard the Oilers’ net after so long was dampened by the visitors.
Despite Corey Perry‘s brace giving the Oilers an early advantage, the Golden Knights came back from behind strongly. But it was Reilly Smith‘s second goal of the night, scored with just 0.4 seconds left on the clock, that helped Vegas cut Edmonton’s lead in the series by half. For understandable reasons, Stuart Skinner was left devastated. “Nobody really knows what’s going to be happening. We had no idea that they were going to score with .4 seconds left. You know, you can’t really expect too much,” the Oilers netminder said.
“That’s a goalie’s job to give your team a chance to win the game. I thought I did, but it’s a couple of tough bounces here & there.”
Stuart Skinner reflects on his first game back between the #Oilers pipes.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/StZ21oqlPg
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 11, 2025
However, it wasn’t a clean shot on target, as you’d hope to be the reason for your downfall. Instead, it was a shot by Smith that deflected off Leon Draisaitl’s stick to go past the Oilers’ goalie. But it is what it is, and being a player at the top level of the sport, Skinner knows such setbacks are part and parcel of the game. “Good bounces, tough bounces, happens for everybody, so just move forward,” Skinner told reporters. True, we guess. But the Oilers fans would know, such a turning of the tide in the last moments of the game isn’t something new.
In Game 2 between Edmonton and Vegas at T-Mobile Arena, it was the visitors who came back from behind to secure a 5-4 OT victory. Then again, one would argue that the victory was made possible because it was Pickard guarding the net instead of Stuart Skinner. In his six games in the playoffs, Calvin posted a 2.84 GAA and .888 save percentage. Compared to that, Skinner has only a .817 save% this postseason. But the goalie will need to buckle up if he hopes to reinstate the Oilers at the top of the NHL once again.
Stuart Skinner’s fumble shouldn’t dishearten the Oilers fans
Edmonton last won the Stanley Cup back in 1990. But the chances of winning it this time looked high, especially with the stacked roster Knoblauch had the privilege to work with in 2024-25. But things didn’t start off the way the Oilers clan would have hoped for. The LA Kings trounced Stuart Skinner & Co. in the first two games, increasing the blood pressure for everyone. However, Calvin Pickard arrived as a savior, and the Oilers went on to eliminate the Kings from Cup contention for the fourth straight year.
The momentum carried over to Round 2, and the Oilers looked firmly in control. Winning six straight games after falling behind, the Western Conference powerhouse made NHL history. With that, the Golden Knights stood on the edge of a climb that was looking too steep to mount. After all, Connor McDavid did make it clear before taking on Vegas that they had a score to settle from two years ago.
But will that get the Oilers back to the driver’s seat in Game 4? Will Pickard be back for the tough job ahead to hold the fort? Or will Stuart Skinner rise up to the occasion and prove his worth for the fans’ perception of him to change? Tell us your predictions below.
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