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What Stuart Skinner said after stellar Edmonton Oilers Game 4 shutout win

Preston Hodgkinson
Preston Hodgkinson
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May 13 2025, 12:00 pm
What Stuart Skinner said after stellar Edmonton Oilers Game 4 shutout win
Walter Tychnowicz/Imagn Images

The Edmonton Oilers are going to Vegas with a chance to eliminate the Golden Knights.

It was the most complete game of the season for the boys in blue as they controlled every facet of Game 4 to the tune of a 3-0 shutout victory. The offence did what it needed, the defence stifled Vegas at every turn, and Stuart Skinner finally pulled things together for his first playoff win of the season (and 20th of his career).

Skinner was the big story to come out of the night. All hope seemed to be lost after losing Game 3 and falling to 0-3 in this year’s postseason. He had lost his starting job to backup Calvin Pickard, and it appeared he might not be able to retake it.

The Edmonton native quieted down the noise with a 23-save shutout performance on Monday night.

“What outside noise? I have no idea. No clue what’s going on,” Skinner said with a smile when asked about the outside pressure. “Everything in the past happens, and what you can do from there is learn from it, keep moving forward, and not panic.

“Being in situations like this, I’ve been in them many times before, I’m going to be in them again. Can’t really tell the future… Just sticking to my process, playing my game, and doing my best out there.”

Skinner didn’t just sit back for 60 minutes while the Oilers did the heavy lifting in front of him. Sure, Edmonton did keep the Golden Knights to the perimeter and limited their chances. However, Skinner still had to stand tall at key moments, including stopping Ivan Barbashev on a breakaway in the first period.

Still, the Oilers’ goaltender gave a lot of props to the team in front of him.

“All I can really say is thanks to the guys playing in front of me, they were amazing tonight,” Skinner said. “Made my job a lot easier. They were battling, a lot of blocked shots, and the way that we played defensively was superb, a lot of credit to the guys.”

While Skinner stayed cool, calm, and collected in the Oilers’ goal, the same could not be said for his Vegas counterpart at the other side of the rink. From the onset of the game, Adin Hill seemed to be playing with a chip on his shoulder as Edmonton made his life inside the Golden Knights’ crease difficult.

This eventually came to a head after Evander Kane got cross-checked into Hill following Adam Henrique’s second goal of the game, causing a bit of a melee. This caused the Rogers Place crowd to serenade the Golden Knights goaltender with “ADIIIIIN” chants.

“It wasn’t our priority [to get on Hill’s nerves],” Skinner said. “He did that, it is what it is. Sometimes that happens… Gives our fans a chance to go after him.

“If that’s how he wants to go about it, that’s fine.”

A performance like that might have bought Skinner another start in the Edmonton cage regardless of Pickard’s status. The Oilers now have a chance to exact total revenge on the Golden Knights as they head to Vegas with a berth to the Western Conference Final on the line.

Can the Oilers once again leave Sin City with the jackpot?

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