Stuart Skinner takes blame as goaltending leads to end of Oilers’ win streak

EDMONTON — The Edmonton Oilers should have tied a franchise record with a ninth straight win by the time the final buzzer sounded Thursday.

They dominated every facet of the game for the first two periods against the Tampa Bay Lightning before allowing five goals in the third — albeit a pair into an empty net — and lost 7-4.

“We were the better team and probably deserved to win,” centre Leon Draisaitl said.

There’s no other way to put it; they got goalied.

“I don’t think anybody in this room should be upset except for me, to be honest,” Oilers netminder Stuart Skinner said. “I ended up losing us the game.”

Skinner allowed five goals on 22 shots. Three of those goals came in the third period on just eight shots.

Underscoring matters were the last two pucks that got by him. Those iffy markers allowed the Lightning, who’d already tied the game earlier in the period, to go up two goals.

“I don’t feel good about them,” Skinner said.

The go-ahead goal at 12:47 saw Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, the league’s scoring leader, get around Cody Ceci just far enough to push the puck through Skinner’s legs as he attempted a pokecheck.

“That obviously doesn’t look great,” Skinner said.

Just 1:15 later, Steven Stamkos carried the puck into the Edmonton zone, delayed and beat Skinner with a long-range shot to complete his hat trick as part of his first-career four-goal game. If the puck hit Evan Bouchard on the way in, Skinner wasn’t willing to justify his inability to stop it.

“I’m not going to make any excuses,” Skinner said.

The third period put a damper on what was looking like another sound game from Skinner. He’d won seven straight starts before facing the Lightning while posting a .934 save percentage in those games.

“In the first two periods, I thought I was doing pretty good,” Skinner said. “I thought I made some good saves. Obviously, the third period, you don’t want it to be like that.

“I know that I can make those saves. I will do that next time.”

Skinner wasn’t the only goalie that led to the Oilers’ undoing Thursday, though.

Andrei Vasilevskiy — a two-time Stanley Cup champion, Conn Smythe and Vezina Trophy winner — had about the best performance a netminder could while surrendering four goals. He made 53 saves.

Had the Oilers been facing a mere mortal, they would have almost certainly been so far ahead by the third period that either their opponent’s spirits would have been crushed or Skinner’s mistakes wouldn’t have mattered.

“We had some good looks and Vasilevskiy made some great saves for them where we thought they could have went in for us,” forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “If we get one or two (of them), we put them away.”

Vasilevskiy did surrender three goals in the second period.

Darnell Nurse scored on a lovely short-handed rush. Connor McDavid batted in a bouncing puck on a power play. A Bouchard blast went off Zach Hyman and in, also with the Oilers on a man advantage. All those goals came by the midway point.

The Oilers mustered 23 shots on goal that frame, but Vasilevskiy let just those three pucks past him. He gave the Lightning a chance to mount a comeback.

Only a Nugent-Hopkins tap-in off a Bouchard pass beat him in the third, a goal that merely pulled the Oilers within one. That’s as close as they got.

“Eight times out of 10 — nine out of 10 — you probably win that game,” Draisaitl said. “They’re an experienced team and they capitalized in the third. Sometimes you’ve got to tip your cap, I guess.”

Skinner had a great view of Vasilevskiy’s performance — from his crease for 55:51 and from the bench for 4:09 because of the extra attacker on the ice. It was the first time the two netminders had opposed each other.

Vasilevskiy is one of the top-tier goaltenders in the NHL and has been for quite some time. He’s as reliable and predictable as they come. In his seven full seasons entering this one, he’s never posted a save percentage below .915.

That’s the stuff most of his peers can only imagine. Skinner posted a .914 save percentage as a rookie last season but is at .885 through 21 games in 2023-24 — and that’s with the recent uptick before Thursday.

“I respect a lot about him as a goalie,” Skinner said. “He’s the best in the world right now. He’s so athletic. He competes so hard.”

Vasilevskiy clearly bested him on this night.

There was mostly fine play from the skaters, which provided some solace as the lengthy winning streak was snapped.

It was Skinner who was as forthright and accountable as they come after this one and accepted all the blame as victory turned into defeat.

“I hear a guy who cares,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “All our guys have bad games. We’ll put them behind us.”

That’s the plan for the Oilers, who want to turn the page and get a better result against the Florida Panthers on Saturday. That’s certainly the plan for Skinner whenever he’s in the net next.

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

“It’s one of those roles. I picked that role because I love it. This is only going to make me better.”

(Photo: Lawrence Scott / Getty Images)