When Calvin Pickard went down in Game 2 of the Western Conference second round against the Vegas Golden Knights, many believed the Edmonton Oilers‘ chances of getting back to the Stanley Cup final was gone with it.
After all, Pickard had provided the Oilers with serviceable, albeit not-great, goaltending while replacing embattled starter Stuart Skinner in Game 3 of the first round against Los Angeles.
But Skinner apparently learned from being benched and sent a inspired message by going 2-1 with a pair of shutouts — including his 24-save performance in Edmonton’s series-clinching 1-0 win at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.
“He came up big the last two nights,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said, referencing Skinner. “Tonight, we needed him, especially as the game wore on in the third period — a lot more saves were needed. Not only making the saves, but looking confident doing it. If anyone needed to feel good about their game and have a little reward, he deserved it.”
Edmonton is now 8-1 in its past nine and is back in the Western Conference final for the third time in four seasons. It has also exorcized the Vegas demons, since Edmonton had fallen in the second round to the Golden Knights in 2023.
Looking Dangerous
The common lament with the Oilers is if they ever had defense and goaltending to match their superstar-laden forward group, the sky would be the limit.
After all, Edmonton got to the Western Conference final in 2022 with Mike Smith’s 3.37 goals-against average in the playoffs. The Oilers reached Game 7 of the Cup final last year even though Skinner had a .901 save percentage, .522 quality-start rate and minus-1.5 goals-saved above average mark in 23 games.
Pickard proved it doesn’t take much to win with Edmonton’s lineup this year still. Despite his 6-0 record, Pickard ranks 12th in goals-against average (2.84) and 13th in save percentage (.888) among qualifying goalies this postseason. He has a minus-2.0 goals-saved above average too — meaning he’s stopped two fewer goals from scoring than a replacement-level netminder.
Yet, Pickard gave the Oilers a lift in a way Skinner couldn’t through the first two games against the Kings in the first round. Skinner allowed 11 goals on 58 shots through Games 1 and 2 and was pulled for Pickard after allowing five goals on 28 shots in Edmonton’s 6-2 loss in that series.
“The playoffs didn’t start off ideally for him, obviously,” Knoblauch said.
But Skinner has completely flipped the script since returning to the lineup. He’s stopped 47 straight shots and boasts a shutout streak of 127:15. Though he only stopped two shots in overtime, each was a solid save and gave Kasperi Kapanen the chance to win Game 5 at 7:19 of the extra session.
“Really happy that was able to come in and give my team a chance to win,” Skinner said. “Being able to come back in no matter what the scenario is and being able to have that resiliency in me is something I can be proud of.”
Keep It Up?
Outfoxing Adin Hill is one thing, but Skinner, who is now likely to be the Game 1 starter for the Western Conference final, is likely to be perceive as the lesser goalie no matter which opponent Edmonton faces.
Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger is fourth among qualifying goalies in save percentage (.917) in the playoffs, which nearly matches his .916 career playoff save percentage. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck is the reigning Vezina Trophy winner and is likely to win his second straight Vezina in a few weeks.
Still, Knoblauch believes in Skinner.
“You knew we were going to need him,” Knoblauch said. “We went with [Pickard] for a little while, and then when [Skinner] had his opportunity, he went and played really well for us.”
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