"Beat the Toronto fans": Skinner quiets Leafs fans after Oilers comeback

It might have been January, but Wednesday night was as close as a regular season game could come to a playoff atmosphere for the Edmonton Oilers.

The fabled Toronto Maple Leafs were in town and fans of the blue and white flooded Rogers Place to cheer for the away team. The result was an electric crowd that battled all game long with rival “Let’s go Oilers” and “Go Leafs go” chants.

At first, it seemed like the visiting Leafs fed off the energy, jumping out to a 2-0 lead early in the second period. Yet, the surging Oilers never went away and it was Ryan McLeod who sniped home the game-winner in the dying minutes of regulation to lift Edmonton to their 11th straight victory.

Stuart Skinner was excellent in the Oilers net, stopping 25 of the 27 shots he faced. After the game, he acknowledged just how energetic the crowd was.

“It did feel a bit like a playoff game,” Skinner told reporters. “It was so loud in there, it was a little bit of a reminder of kind of what playoffs were like last year… definitely makes it a lot of fun.”

"I’m glad that we were able to beat Toronto & beat the Toronto fans out there."

Stuart Skinner shares his thoughts after registering his eighth win in a row tonight.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/iq8flwYfgd

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 17, 2024

Even Skinner couldn’t hide a smile when he mentioned how good it felt to send the pack of opposing fans home without a victory.

“I’m glad that we were able to beat Toronto and beat the Toronto fans out there,” Skinner said with a laugh.

It was far from an easy game for the sophomore goaltender. He got scored on in the first minute by Auston Matthews on a beautiful Mitch Marner feed and faced two heavy plays that saw Leafs players run into him.

His best save of the night came off a fantastic cross-crease glove save off a one-timer from Pontus Holmberg in the first period.

hell of a save by Skinner as Matthews finds Holmberg for a one-timer pic.twitter.com/jxYvxGuiUv

— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) January 17, 2024

The Oilers’ record now improves to 24-15-1 on the season and are now within a single point of the LA Kings for third place in the Pacific Division. Skinner collected his 19th victory of the season, which is fifth in the NHL among all goaltenders.

Edmonton will take on a hot Seattle Kraken team on Thursday with a chance to extend their winning streak to 12 games.