The Edmonton Oilers are known for their firepower up front thanks to stars Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but nowadays the defending Western Conference champions are also standing out in goal.
Backstopped by goaltenders Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard, the Oilers will face the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night in a matchup of high-scoring clubs.
Skinner ended last season on a down note, allowing the final goal of the campaign, which came off the stick of the Panthers’ Sam Reinhart in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final. The tally put Florida up 2-1 in the second period, and Edmonton never found a way to draw even.
The Oilers had battled all the way back from a 3-0 deficit in the series to force Game 7.
Despite giving up the goal that prevented Edmonton from winning a title, Skinner has been resilient this season, and he is 3-1-0 with a 1.52 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage over his past four games.
However, the Edmonton native was not selected to Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster. Instead, goalies Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues), Adin Hill (Vegas Golden Knights) and Sam Montembeault (Montreal Canadiens) landed on the team.
Getting left off the squad hasn’t bothered Skinner, though.
“He’s been outstanding,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said of Skinner. “You look at the games we’ve won and our goaltenders, (Pickard) too, have usually been better than the goalie lined up on the other side.”
Edmonton is 6-2-0 over its past eight games, most recently beating St. Louis 4-2 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Tampa Bay opened a four-game road trip over the weekend, topping the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 on Sunday. Brayden Point led the way with two goals and two assists, while linemate Nikita Kucherov was back on the ice after a two-game absence (undisclosed injury) and totaled one goal and two helpers.
Still, Lightning coach Jon Cooper wasn’t entirely pleased with the effort and is hoping for a faster start on Tuesday. Tampa Bay didn’t score in the first 20 minutes of action while tallying only seven shots on goal to fall into a 1-0 hole.
“Not pleased with our effort level. We lost every battle. I think we were lucky to be down just 1-0. It’s tough,” Cooper said. “We flew in here (Monday), we get a little skate in, and, then, we have to play an afternoon game.
“I’ll give them a mulligan on that first period, but they really came out in the second and pushed.”
Named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week, Point had back-to-back games with at least four points and now has 10 four-point performances in his career. He also reached 300 assists for his career and is one power-play goal away from scoring 100 times on the man advantage.
The news isn’t all good for the Lightning, who could be without center Anthony Cirelli on Tuesday. Cirelli sustained an apparent injury on Sunday against the Canucks and was not spotted at practice on Monday.
–Field Level Media