Skinner shoulders blame for loss as Oilers feel wrath of Vasilevskiy

Mark Spector December 15, 2023, 1:26 AM

EDMONTON — Stu Skinner walked out of the catacombs surrounding the swank dressing room of his Edmonton Oilers, and stepped into a media scrum waiting in front of his locker. 

There was no deflecting or excuse making. He called a spade a spade. 

“I ended up losing us the game.” 

The Edmonton Oilers got goalied on Thursday night — at both ends of the ice. Their eight-game winning streak went up in smoke in a 7-4 loss to Tampa. 

This was a game in which Edmonton — who would outshot Tampa 55-24 on the night — found themselves in a 3-3 tie with the Lightning with just eight minutes remaining in the final period. 

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Then, Nikita Kucherov pushed a loose puck through Skinner’s legs. It was a bit unlucky, but nobody has time for an unlucky goalie at a time like that. 

Then, 75 seconds later, Steven Stamkos floated a long wrist shot past Skinner’s glove to give Tampa a 5-3 lead. Stamkos would score one of two empty net goals — it was the first four-goal night of his career — and the Oilers could never recover from that late, 5-3 deficit that Skinner coughed up. 

“It’s a one-goal game (when) we ended up scoring,” Skinner said moments after the game. “If I was able to make that last save, we might still be playing right now.” 

Two bad goals in the third period, while Andrei Vasilevskiy is playing lights out hockey at the other end, stings here in Edmonton, where everyone knows that goaltending could yet be the Achilles heel of Connor McDavid’s tenure. 

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Skinner has been fantastic over his last seven starts, posting a .934 save percentage to help pull this team up off its knees after Edmonton’s horrible start to the season. You can stand losing when you’ve won eight straight — just not on two cheesy goals like the ones that decided this game. 

“Obviously I don’t feel good about them,” said Skinner, who gets full marks for making zero excuses in his post-game media work. “The puck was bobbling on (Kucherov’s goal). I went for it, and at that exact time he pulled it and put it in five-hole. Obviously doesn’t look great. 

“And then after that, Stammer came in and, you know, I’m not gonna make any excuses… So, move on and look forward.” 

To make matters worse, at the other end fans got a full display of the kind of goaltending that won the Lightning two Stanley Cups — it’s first one right in this building back in the bubble. Vasilevskiy stopped 51 shots in a game where, said Leon Draisaitl, “eight times out of 10, nine out of 10, we probably win that game. 

“The way that he anticipates and reads the play is probably the best in the league. We definitely ran into him tonight.” 

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Give the Oilers credit — they fell behind 2-0 just 7:17 into the game, and by the time the second period had ended they had a 3-2 lead and a 38-14 edge in shots. Against any other goalie, on any other night, it doesn’t matter how Skinner plays in Period 3 — because Edmonton has a three- or four-goal lead after 40 minutes. 

“The guys played a heck of a game,” Skinner said. “I don’t think anybody in this room should be upset — except for me, to be honest. I ended up losing us the game. That’s something that I’ll take that on, and I’ll be better for it.” 

We get it: Oilers fans will be quick to forget Skinner’s work over the past three weeks — a .934 saves percentage and a 1.70 goals against average — with what they witnessed in one bad outing Thursday. 

But it should be noted, we’ve interviewed a lot of goalies for a lot of years. Not many who have played as well as Skinner over the past month fall on their sword the way he did after just one bad game. One bad period, really. 

You want a guy who looks in the mirror? This was accountability at the highest level. 

“You’ve got to take ownership when you need to,” Skinner reasoned. “As a goalie I have opportunities to help us win games, and sometimes I end up losing the game for the guys. 

“I picked this role because I love it, so I’m gonna keep on loving it. This is only going to make me better.”