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Skinner explains what happened on bizarre goal in Edmonton Oilers home opener

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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Oct 9 2025, 12:00 pm
Skinner explains what happened on bizarre goal in Edmonton Oilers home opener
Perry Nelson/Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers lost their season opener in spectacular fashion on Wednesday night.

It was a perfect start for the Oilers, as they quickly built a 3-0 lead and were dominating the Calgary Flames for the first half of the game. New acquisitions Andrew Mangiapane and David TomĆ”Å”ek were making an impact, and the team looked like they would cruise to an opening night victory.

And then the Flames scored a fluky goal off of Noah Philp’s skate, which was followed by Connor Zary batting a puck into the net, ultimately setting up a miraculous gaffe from Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner to knot things up in the first minute of the third period.

Edmonton would go on to lose the game 4-3 after an eight-round shootout.

That third goal will be the one on replay for Oilers fans, as it was truly bizarre. It began with the Flames dumping the puck right to Skinner, who proceeded to hold the puck in front of him, freeze with it, and allow the forechecking Blake Coleman to poke it into the net.

It looked like the Oilers goaltender froze with indecision, and he said as much after the game.

“I think I just had to make a quicker decision,” Skinner told reporters. “The game happens fast down there, and it was just kind of a miscommunication, and I was slow to react to Coleman behind [Evan Bouchard], and then it’s a goal.

“If that doesn’t go in, we win the game.”

It was a stain on what would otherwise be a good night for Skinner between the pipes. The first two goals against were a bit fluky and far from his fault. He would go on to make several key stops in regulation and overtime before battling in a shootout that the Oilers had plenty of opportunity to win.

Yet, because of the endless controversy that the Oilers’ goaltending has brought in recent years, all anybody will remember from this game is that mistake.

“It’s one bad decision,” Skinner said. “It makes you look really bad, and that’s how it goes… I won’t be thinking about it; it happens. It’s probably the easiest fix I’ll make this year. Quick decision, throw it in the corner, that’s that.”

“I felt good about my game.”

The safety net for Skinner and backup Calvin Pickard is not as strong as it has been in recent years. They now have an NHL-ready option in Connor Ingram down in the AHL to pounce on either one of their jobs.

It’s most likely way too early to be thinking of Ingram as a viable option to come up, but this is exactly the type of controversy that the Oilers want to avoid this season, and it only took one game for the narrative to crop back up.

Skinner still has some leash left to start the season, but it’s gonna be shorter than he’s used to. It’ll be up to him to limit these types of mistakes moving forward.

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