The Edmonton Oilers collapsed during Game 1 of the 2025 Western Conference Finals. However, goalie Stuart Skinner was up to the task in Game 2. He held the Dallas Stars without a goal throughout the contest, picking up his third shutout of the postseason.
It’s been a wild postseason for the Edmonton netminder. Skinner began the playoffs as the team’s starting goalie. However, some rough performances caused him to be benched in favor of Calvin Pickard. Pickard went down with an injury, though, so Skinner returned to the crease.
The Oilers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in five games with Skinner playing the majority of the series. He stumbled again in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals before rebounding on Friday. The Edmonton goalie spoke about the ups and down’s his team has experienced in this series against the Stars after Game 2.
“It’s like I said at the beginning of playoffs, it’s a roller coaster. There’s a lot of highs, lots of lows. Sometimes the score doesn’t always tell everybody exactly how the game unfolded,” Skinner said, via NHL.com’s Taylor Baird. “I think a few minutes where we didn’t play our best, and it looks a lot worse than what it was. So, for us just going back to tonight is really just playing the same game, doing the same thing, and just putting on our work boots and getting to work.”
Oilers Appreciate Stuart Skinner Battling Against Stars
Sam Hodde/Getty ImagesEdmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner turned in a fantastic performance against the Dallas Stars in Game 2.
It has not been easy for Skinner over the last few seasons. He’s struggled with inconsistency over the years, especially in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, he has shown up in closeout games. In fact, he may be the team’s best player in closeout contests.
The inconsistency is certainly frustrating. But when he’s on, he’s on. And his teammates recognize the work he has put in during these postseason runs. They credit Skinner with putting it all on the line as they fight for a Stanley Cup championship.
“As players you don’t have enough appreciation for how a goalie battles. You trust he’s going to do his job back there and battle and try to see the puck and make every save he can and he did that tonight. He made every save. That’s a good night for a goalie,” Connor McDavid said, via Baird. “Forwards are coming back really hard, everyone is selling out blocking shots. It’s that time of year, that’s what it takes. It’s fun to watch.”
Edmonton’s Strategy For Supporting Skinner
When a team is as dialed in as Skinner was on Friday night, there is one concrete way to support the goalie. They need to score goals and distance themselves from the other team. For the Oilers, this means getting bodies to the net and creating chaos.
“Scoring goals, it’s all around the blue paint. You need bodies there,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Very rarely are you going to beat a goalie from distance and if you do, someone usually has to be right in front of him. I think we did a pretty good job of that in Game 1 and tonight also. But to beat any good goaltender in the NHL, and this is a good goaltender, you need to have traffic around there and you need to pay a price to be around the net.”
The Oilers tied the 2025 Western Conference Finals at one game apiece. Edmonton has snatched momentum from the Stars as the series shifts to Western Canada. These teams hit the ice for Game 3 of this series on Sunday night.
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