Oilers’ Stuart Skinner apologizes for Game 3 performance: ‘The emotions caught up with me’

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner was apologetic and reflective in his media availability on Monday morning in the home dressing room at Rogers Place.

The 25-year-old goaltender began by offering an unprompted apology for not fielding questions after the Oilers lost to the Vancouver Canucks in Sunday’s Game 3, in which he allowed four goals on 15 shots and was pulled after the second period.

Skinner: On the record, I’d like to apologize to you guys for not being available last night. Hope you guys could all forgive me.

Question: Understandable, thanks for acknowledging that. I guess maybe the question, Stu, is how are you dealing with all of this. It’s obviously a lot of pressure, playoff time. Not characteristic of you, obviously.

Skinner: Last night, I think the emotions just kind of caught up with me. It was tough mentally, definitely, last night. Obviously, you never want to get pulled in a game, feel like you let down the team. I’ve got some work to do here to get back at it and learn from the mistakes I’ve been making.

Question: How much of it is mental for you, Stu, and how much is physical mistakes in the game?

Skinner: Yeah, I think, uh … it’s a wonderful question. I think, as most people say, especially as a goaltender, I think it’s at least 90 percent, maybe more, mental, and I’ve been working on that game obviously for a long time. I think physically, there’s little adjustments I can make. But, to be super honest, I don’t think it’s anything technical, I think it’s just me being able to find saves at key times, and I haven’t been able to do that.