Oilers to start Skinner again vs. Golden Knights with Pickard still hurt

Vegas Golden Knights' Victor Olofsson (95) is chased by Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard (2) as goalie Stuart Skinner (74) looks for the puck during third period NHL playoff action in Edmonton on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press)

Stuart Skinner will start again in goal for the Edmonton Oilers on Monday in their next playoff game.

And while the starter-turned-backup has yet to win this postseason while backup-turned-starter, the now-injured Calvin Pickard, is undefeated, their head coach is confident Skinner can perform at the level they need him to in Game 4 against the Vegas Golden Knights (7:30 p.m.)

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“Stuart made some really big saves, especially in the third period ... made some other ones early in the game on the penalty kill,” Kris Knoblauch told media on Sunday at Rogers Place, the day after losing Game 3 of their second-round National Hockey League playoff series 4-3 to visiting Vegas.

“(But) just like games 1 and 2 when he played early in the L.A. series, we just need to be better in front.”

Yes, Knoblauch is loathe to point a finger at and cast blame on Skinner for the goals against, including the game-winner with 0.4 seconds left.

The coach said after the game he didn’t think “there were any bad goals” on Skinner’s part.

“We put him in difficult situations to defend,” Knoblauch said.

In any game, a team’s goalie is firmly in the spotlight, win or lose, his actions and moves on display for all to see as the primary focus of attention in any hockey game – the puck – is the very object he’s paid to stop, deflect and/or smother.

And Skinner showed flashes of his strong play from last year’s playoff run to the Stanley Cup final, making several key stops, particularly on a first-period penalty-killing situation and in the third with Vegas dominating at times.

Skinner, who watched from the bench after the first two playoff games this spring as Pickard backstopped the Oilers to six come-from-behind wins in a row, said after game he thinks he gave his team a chance to win on Saturday, “but a couple of tough bounces here and there ...”

“There were definitely some nerves, but it wasn’t too, too bad,” said Skinner, who had been idle since April 23’s 6-2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings, from which he was pulled in favour of Pickard.

“I’ve been in a situation like this a few times, played a solid amount of NHL games, played a good amount of playoff games, so I know what it’s all about. There are obviously some nerves because you want to do well, you want to play well, you want to get the win.

“I think everyone’s nervous. (It’s) playoff hockey.”

Knoblauch said coaches “always want players playing with desperation and putting it all out on the line.”

“That’s what everyone did, our forwards, defence and our goaltender,” he said. “Unfortunately, there’s a little more time on the clock than everyone thought.”