Stuart Skinner's first playoff win this season a 3-0 shutout for Edmonton Oilers

Donna Spencer · The Canadian Press

· Posted: May 13, 2025 9:26 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Stuart Skinner had religion successful himself, if others didn't.

The goaltender's archetypal triumph of this year's NHL playoffs was a 3-0 shutout Monday for the Edmonton Oilers, who instrumentality a 3-1 pb successful their second-round bid against the Golden Knights to Las Vegas with a accidental to adjacent it retired Wednesday.

Skinner's 23 saves were an integral portion of Edmonton's astir implicit crippled of the post-season.

"It felt great," Skinner said. "All I tin truly accidental is acknowledgment to the guys playing successful beforehand of me. They were astonishing tonight. Made my occupation a batch easier.

"They were battling, a batch of blocked shots. The mode that we played defensively was superb."

It was Skinner's 2nd commencement aft a performance-induced hiatus successful the playoffs.

The 26-year-old from Edmonton was pulled successful the 2nd crippled of the first-round bid erstwhile the Los Angeles Kings had scored 11 goals connected him implicit 5 and a fractional periods.

Calvin Pickard and the Oilers won six successful a enactment earlier Pickard was injured successful Game 2 successful Las Vegas, wherever Tomas Hertl landed connected his near limb successful the 3rd period.

Pickard hasn't been seen connected the crystal since and frankincense doesn't look adjacent to a instrumentality soon. Much of the Oilers' playoff fortunes volition thrust connected their regular-season starter for the foreseeable future.

The Oilers were 6-0 with Pickard and 0-3 with Skinner heading into Monday's game.

'Give your squad a chance'

"Numbers don't truly matter, particularly successful playoffs," Skinner said. "But the biggest happening is conscionable trying to springiness your squad a accidental to win.

"If you fto successful 5 and it's a 5-5 crippled going successful OT, you're giving your squad a accidental to win, truthful honestly, it doesn't truly fuss me."

Skinner made immoderate important saves successful Edmonton's 4-3 nonaccomplishment successful Game 3, but was the people of social-media disapproval for his portion successful the Golden Knights' victor scored with four-tenths of a 2nd remaining.

"What extracurricular noise?" Skinner asked Monday. "I person nary idea. No hint what's going on."

He was successful a akin concern past twelvemonth erstwhile Pickard started a brace of games successful a second-round bid against the Vancouver Canucks, though it wasn't a Pickard wounded that returned him to Edmonton's net.

Oilers caput manager Kris Knoblauch felt Skinner needed a reset, and it worked arsenic Skinner returned to assistance Edmonton scope Game 7 of the Stanley Cup last that the Oilers mislaid 2-1 to the Florida Panthers. He went 14-9 successful past year's playoffs.

"I decided to play this position, truthful it's wholly my fault," Skinner said.

"For maine being successful situations similar this, I've been successful them galore times before. I'm going to beryllium successful them again. Just sticking to my process and conscionable playing my crippled and doing my champion retired there."

Oilers guardant Adam Henrique saw the enactment Skinner enactment successful during Pickard's tally and acknowledged the spotlight Skinner was nether successful his instrumentality to the net.

"It's large to spot him travel retired of that and conscionable beryllium him," Henrique said.

"There's pressure. We each look pressure, but to beryllium a fig 1 goalie successful a marketplace similar this, it was astir apt other unit and it comes from each angles, I'm sure.

"To spot him struggle, Picks goes in, plays great, and we get connected a run, you've got to beryllium ready. He did his occupation erstwhile helium wasn't playing.

"You conscionable enactment connected what you request to enactment connected to beryllium acceptable erstwhile you request beryllium ready, and definite enough, comes on an injury, you're close backmost successful there."

WATCH | Oilers instrumentality bid pb with Game 4 triumph implicit the Golden Knights: 

Skinner was challenged aboriginal due to the fact that the Golden Knights had 3 power-play chances successful the archetypal period. He stoned an all-alone Tomas Hertl astatine the extremity of their first.

Skinner was greeted and congratulated by Pickard successful Edmonton's dressing country aft the game.

"It's been an astonishing thrust with him for the past 2 years," Skinner said.

"It takes a batch of quality to amusement each different support, adjacent though possibly the different guy's not successful the top concern and seeing that conscionable shows everyone his character, however overmuch helium really cares astir me.

"It's not fake, and aforesaid the different mode around. There's nary facade there. It's conscionable 2 guys battling for each different and ever supporting each other."