Edmonton – Stuart Skinner will start with the purpose of Edmonton’s Oilers against the Golden Knights in Vegas in match 3 of the second round of the West Conference in Rogers place on Saturday (9 p.m. HE; CBC, VAT, SN, TNT, TRUTV, Max).
Skinner will replace Calvin Pickard, who suffered an injury to the lower body in a 5-4 victory in overtime in match 2 Thursday and is day by day. It will be Skinner’s first departure since April 23, when he was withdrawn in the third period after granting five goals on 28 shots during a 6-2 defeat against the Kings of Los Angeles in match 2 of the first round.
It is 0-2 in playoffs with a GAA 6.11 and a percentage of stops of .810. Skinner went 14-9 with a GAA of 2.45 and a 901 backup percentage during the 2024 qualifying series, helping the Oilers to reach the Stanley Cup final. They lost against the Florida Panthers in seven games.
“Obviously, this is not the situation in which we want to be, but these are playoffs,” said Skinner after the morning. “You need two guards to go normally to the end, so I’m delighted to go back to the net. I had time to work on certain things and I am ready to go.”
Skinner obtained work n ° 1 at the start of the qualifying series for Edmonton after having had 26-18-4 in 51 games (50 departures) with a GAA of 2.81 and a percentage of stops of .896.
During the eliminatory race for last season, Skinner gave way to Pickard for matches 4 and 5 of the second round against the Vancouver Canucks before returning for match 6. The Oilers won the series in seven.
“We expect (Skinner) to between and book what he has done before,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “He was in the situation last year after having a short break in the Vancouver series and returned and was a solid goalkeeper throughout this series against Vancouver and throughout the playoffs. I think it is ready and we are going to get out.”
Pickard won six consecutive departures after replacing Skinner. He seemed to have undergone the injury in the third period when the Golden Knights striker Tomas Hertl fell on his left leg a few moments before Alex Pietrangelo equalized it 4-4 at 11:58 am. Pickard stayed in the match and finished with 28 stops.
The 33 -year -old man has a GAA of 2.84 and a percentage of stops of 0.888 in the playoffs. He played 36 games (31 departures) during the regular season and went 22-10-1 with a GAA of 2.81 and a percentage of .896 stops.
“I have already come here, so nothing is new to me,” said Skinner. “It is an opportunity for me to do my job and give these guys a chance to do; That’s all I can do. I’m just going to go there and play my game.
“I know that the building is going to be noisy, so I’m really excited to come back there.”
