Why Oilers fans should feel confident in Stuart Skinner between the pipes: ‘He’s done this before'

There’s never a dull moment in between the pipes for the Edmonton Oilers.

After a six-game absence due to poor play, Stuart Skinner was thrust back into the starter position for the Oilers in their second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, when his replacement Calvin Pickard was injured in Game 2. After a shaky return to play in Game 3, Skinner posted back-to-back shutouts to bring this one home for Edmonton, propelling them to the Western Conference Finals for a second consecutive year.

Former Oiler Devan Dubnyk joined Thursday’s edition of Oilersnation Everyday with Tyler Yaremchuk to break down Edmonton’s Game 5 win and talk Skinner’s recent excellent play. Spoiler alert, the longtime NHL tender is hot on the hometown hero right now.

“It’s extremely high,” Dubnyk said, of his confidence in Skinner. “Because he’s done this before, he did this just last year, so he’s been through adversity like this. Now that, combined with what I talked about earlier about how good he looked. If they had gone up 3-0 or closed the series out in that fashion where he played okay and looked kind of the same as he had, I wouldn’t have the same confidence. But the goalie I saw last night was not the goalie I’ve seen all playoffs.”

Fans in Edmonton certainly remember last year’s Cup run well, when Pickard also came in for Skinner amidst a slew of poor starts in the second round. Skinner earned his net back a few games later, and helped his team to Game 7 of the finals. It’s a peculiar situation for a goaltender, but in such a mental game, maybe a few games out is all it takes for him to lock in.

“Once that clicks and he feels that, if that sinks in and he starts to move like that, this is what the Oilers need,” Dubnyk continued. “Because they are playing so well defensively and they are limiting the other team’s chances. They just need a guy to be comfortable and solid back there to come up with the right saves. And if he looks like that and is moving like that, I think he’s gonna be in very good position to be that guy.”

The key difference with Edmonton’s goaltending this year is that Pickard went on a heater through his longer stretch of starts, with six wins in six games. Given both goalies’ recent strong play, that could prompt the question of who should be in between the pipes for Edmonton.

But for now, that question is on hold. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said Friday morning that Pickard won’t be available for the start of the series, but there’s hope he could be sometime midway through.

So for now, it’s Skinner’s net to lose. With at least a few more days until the Oilers play again, the Edmonton native will aim to keep up this momentum as they try to claw their way back to the Stanley Cup finals once again.