Edmonton Oilers' Stuart Skinner dead-last in two important playoff goalie stats
The Edmonton Oilers are continuing to get sub-par goaltending from their presumed starter.
Following a stretch of six-straight Oilers playoff victories that saw journeyman backup Calvin Pickard, an injury to the veteran netminder forced the team to turn back to Stuart Skinner for Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
The good news is the Oilers got Skinner’s best performance of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The bad news is that he finished the night with a .833 SV% and overplayed the game-winning goal, allowing Vegas forward Reilly Smith to skate around him and bank the puck off of Leon Draisaitl’s stick in the crease.Ā
Skinner did come up big with a few timely saves in the third period, but those saves won’t be remembered if the result doesn’t wind up in the Oilers’ favour. The lacklustre night added more pressure on the Edmonton native as he now sits dead last among playoff goaltenders in both save percentage (SV%) and goals against average (GAA).
He currently sits at the bottom of the leaderboards with a dismal .817 SV% and .536 GAA through his first three games of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The good news about Game 3 is that Stu Skinner had his best outing of the 2025 playoffs. The bad news is that he ended the night with a .833 SV%
Skinner is now dead last among playoff goalies with a .817 SV% and a 5.36 GAA. Second last with -6.4 GSAx
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) May 11, 2025
He is also the only goalie, outside of Montreal Canadiens’ Samuel Montembeault, in the entire playoffs who has yet to record a single victory, losing the first two games against the LA Kings in the opening round and now Game 3 against the Golden Knights.
On top of all that, he is also second-last in the playoffs with -6.4 goals saved above expected (GSAx). That is only better than Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who sits last with a -7.8 GSAx.
This is an unacceptable rate for a goaltender who was presumed to be Edmonton’s starter heading into the playoffs. It also puts an unreasonable amount of pressure on Pickard, who has never had to be relied on as an NHL playoff starter in his career before this season.
Pickard has done an exceptional job handling that pressure and is currently on a historic run of six-straight postseason victories. However, with an injury holding him out of the lineup, the Oilers are now in a bit of a dilemma, as their only other option other than Skinner is AHL farmhand Olivier Rodrigue, who has just one game of NHL experience under his belt.
Either Skinner needs to figure things out fast, or Pickard will have to heal up quickly. If neither of those happens, things could get ugly in Edmonton sooner rather than later.