Edmonton Hockey Daily has no direct affiliation to the Edmonton Oilers, NHL or NHLPA
Stuart Skinner blasted for tone-deaf comments after costing Oilers a win
Stuart Skinner is taking some heat for his comments after a rough Oilers loss to the Calgary Flames in the home opener.
It was a very familiar game for Oilers fans. Edmonton dominated most of the game, even got up to a 3 goal lead, and then some weak goals against eroded the night into a loss. In a frantic end, the Oilers stars couldn't beat a locked-in Dustin Wolf in the final moments.
Oilers lost to Flames off 2 tough goals of Stuart Skinner, looking to bounce back again
More than ever, the Oilers are in a Cup or Bust year and can't afford to be hurt by their glaring weakness of goaltending again. Skinner needs to excel to earn the Oilers trust this year, and last night was a brutal start.
Skinner finished the night with an .864 save percentage, -0.6 Goals Saved Above Expected, and allowed an awful tying goal.
Speaking to the media after the game, Skinner gave the familiar spiel about needing to forget about the bad goals, and being appreciative of his team for picking him up.
If that doesn't go in, we win the game. Two points. But you know what? The way that we responded as a team was fantastic.
I won't be thinking about it, no,» he said. «It happens. It's probably the easiest fix I'll make this year. A quick decision, throw it in the corner, that's that. I felt good about my game.
- Stuart Skinner
I won't be thinking about it, no,» he said. «It happens. It's probably the easiest fix I'll make this year. A quick decision, throw it in the corner, that's that. I felt good about my game.
- Stuart Skinner
The first game of the season doesn't warrant an overreaction, but these are extremely familiar problems with Stuart Skinner rearing their heads early.
With the context of the urgency behind this season, these comments from Skinner are just hard to hear.
The Edmonton Oilers have some time to wait and see if Skinner can improve with new goalie coaching, but if he doesn't prove absolute consistency for most of this year - entering the playoffs with him as the starter would be an inexcusable mistake.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 9 | 1372 ANSWERS Stuart Skinner blasted for tone-deaf comments after costing Oilers a win Do you think Skinner will improve enough this season to still be the playoff starter? | ||
| Yes | 238 | 17.3 % |
| No | 1076 | 78.4 % |
| He's already good enough | 58 | 4.2 % |
| List of polls | ||