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"He's your ride or die": Social media reacts to big start for Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner
In the biggest game of the season, the Edmonton Oilers went with Stuart Skinner in net over Calvin Pickard. It was an interesting and controversial decision, causing the usual storm of commentary on social media and in the mainstream media. Here’s how it’s played out on social media, starting with Oilers insider Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now on Friday, strongly hinting that Pickard would be replaced in net by Skinner. Bob Stauffer, Oilers Now I think hypothetically there’s a strong possibility we might see Stuart Skinner start tomorrow. David Staples, Cut of Hockey Cal Pickard was fantastic against Vancouver in Game Five. He faced 20 Grade A shots and let in just two goals. On 20 such shots you’d expect a team would score four-to-six goals. I’d go with the hot hand, stick with Pickard and worry about Game 7 if the Oilers get a win in Game 6. Sportsnet commentator Elliotte Friedman (later that evening) Rest up, everyone. Big one tomorrow night. Game 6 Canucks/Oilers. I’m thinking Stuart Skinner for Edmonton Game Day morning Daily Face-off commentator Frank Seravalli @frank_seravalli We’ll see what develops this morning, but the belief is these are the changes for #Oilers:Stuart Skinner starts Game 6. Sporstnet Vancouver commentator Brook Ward @brookwardsports Skinner: 12GA on 58 shots .793% in series… .877% in 8 playoff games this season. David Staples @dstaples If today’s game was an election campaign, I would rally around the “Stick with Pick” side. But not an election. Just one guy has a vote. Here is hoping Coach Knoblauch nailed it. And good luck to Skinner. He has had big games before. Bring it! Sportsnet Vancouver commenator Mike Halford @MikeHalford604 “stu has been our guy all year,” knoblauch said. “assuming you don’t count our last seven periods of competitive hockey.” Oilers fan St.Albert James @RealCNN I love Carrick in for Perry but Skinner in this year’s playoffs is absolute madness. I’d be playing Campbell over Skinner at this point. Oilers fan Arpeggi @TheWeirdestFish If Skinner let’s in a single soft goal, it’s all over. I don’t have the confidence he’d be able to weather that in his fragile state. Game day at practice Edmonton Oilers @EdmontonOilers “I’m very excited to get back in the net.” Skinner speaks ahead of starting in tonight’s Game 6. The Cult of Hockey’s Bruce McCurdy Skinner has had his struggles in the postseason for the second year in a row, especially in the current Vancouver series. He played the first 8 periods, allowing 12 goals on just 58 shots for a miserable .793 save percentage. Backup Calvin Pickard mopped up in Game 3, then played the entirety of Games 4 and 5 as the two teams split a pair of 3-2 decisions. Oilers fan Matt Henderson Arch @Archaeologuy Nothing scares me more than going back to Skinner. Oilers fan Sumit Tripathi @Sumit_Tripathi_ Skinner absolutely the right choice. We live or die by Skinner Oilers fan Lauren 🩲 @lllaurenA Skinner needs to bring Roloson energy tonight. Cause if he brings Conklin energy, might as well book that tee time now. CHED commentator Shaye Ganam @ShayeGanam Careers aren’t often made or lost in a single game. But a single game can definitely be a defining moment in a career. Good and bad. Here’s hoping local kid Stuart Skinner is lights out tonight. Pressure makes diamonds. Oilers fan Captain Jack 🏴☠️ @OilersJack Unpopular Opinion: Starting Starting Stuart Skinner Tonight is so f*cking ballsy that I actually like it. Oilers fan Tyson Munro @Tys35 Stating my opinion now so I can’t use revisionist history after the fact: I believe going back to Skinner is the right choice. I’m fully prepared to be wrong 🤷🏻♂️ Oilers fan DougieDman @OilDoug I’m sorry if Knoblauch is going back to Skinner by his own choice based on ast game….are we sure he knows what he’s doing? If Holland and Jackson are telling him who to play…..wow. Pickard is rhe only player who showed up in game 5. His reward? He’s benched. Vancouver podcast Brendan Kobliuk @jabo_vancouver Skinner, Pickard, doesn’t matter. It comes down if the #Canucks can match the desperation they are going to see from the Oilers tonight. Can they win the battles they were winning in Game 5, execute on their breakouts and, this time, stay out of the box. That’s what matters. Pre-game Sportsnet Elliotte Friedman Back in Game 3, Skinner gave up four goals in 15 shots…One of the things I think was a big deal was Skinner’s reaction after goals. He sagged noticeably… One of the things that Oilers have worked with Skinner on is not looking so defeated after he’s scored on. But he regressed that night. It’s not 1A and 1B for me. He’s your starter and Pickard is way below. Sportsnet Kevin Bieksa It’s definitely the right decision to put him back in… I still think you should have went back to him in Game 5. He is your #1. He’s your ride or die. Sportsnet Luke Gazdic This is an opportunity for Stu to kind of right the narrative about his playoff success and kind of silence the critics a little bit. But I love this decision. He’s your guy and you go with him. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch A tough decision with the way Picks had played obviously but looking on our season on the line and seeing what Stu has done for us this season. Since I’ve been here he’s looked like an elite goaltender with Vezina-like numbers. And right now we need a big game from him and we’re going with him. Sportsnet Kelly Hrudey I struggled with this a tiny bit. I was thinking Pickard probably deserves a chance but my gut was always telling me that it’s going to be this guy, Skinner. He deserves it. He’s their #1 guy. For Skinner, I hope that he feels like he doesn’t have to be perfect. I think that having. a clean first period is very important. More to come as the game proceeds… First period cccc
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Edmonton Oilers bring Skinner back facing elimination in Game 6
Facing elimination at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, the Edmonton Oilers were going to win or lose with their starting goalie back where he belongs. Stuart Skinner returned to the Oilers net for the first time since allowing four goals before getting pulled in Game 3. Backup Calvin Pickard started the next two games, going 1-1, as the Vancouver Canucks took a 3-2 lead coming into Game 6 their Western Conference second-round playoff series at Rogers Place on Saturday. Up to that point, Skinner allowed 12 goals on 58 shots against the Canucks, for a 4.40 goals-against average and a staggering .793 save percentage — well below his regular-season numbers of a 2.69 average and .905 percentage. “I’m very excited to get back in the net, I’m excited to get to do my job again,” Skinner, 25, said after Saturday’s morning skate. “I got some work in, some solid practices and I got to watch Calvin do his thing. “He was incredible. He got the job done when he was asked to get put in and he’s been doing that all year for us.” While Skinner cheered on Pickard to a playoff save percentage of .915, having to watch the past two games unfold from the bench wasn’t the easiest job. “It was tough just because you want to be in there. But at the same time, I was just ecstatic for Calvin,” Skinner said. “He played incredible, the guys played really well. He got us tied at 2-2 (in the series) and he got his job done. “Any type of situation like that, it’s difficult. I’ve been working on my mental game for a long time here. It’s just another experience where I got to work on some more stuff mentally. So, being able to kind of throw that frustration down and just be the best teammate that I could possibly be, I had a lot of fun and was able to get my work in. Really good for me.” The Oilers, of course, were hoping what’s good for the goalie goose is good for the gander, with Skinner’s return prompting the same sort of spark as Pickard’s first playoff start led to in the team. “A lot of it was strictly competitiveness,” Skinner said of getting his mind focused during his time out of the lineup. “These (Canucks) guys, they go to the net hard, they’ve always got two guys in front of the net that really just battle in front, so it’s my job to push back a bit. “A lot of guys came up to me and just gave me their support. They all told me I’d get back into the cage at some point here, and that obviously I’m a really important piece in all this. So, I’m not getting too down on myself and just really taking this as an opportunity to get better and work on my game and take some time off.” Those playing in front of Skinner didn’t need any convincing he was ready for a return to active duty. “I thought he got back to work, not to say that he wasn’t working hard before, but I saw him watching some video and working hard at practice and stuff like that,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “So, whenever he’s doing that, I expect him to play well.” But playing well in the regular season is one thing for Skinner, while the playoffs have been another story so far in his young career. A year ago, Skinner took over the starting job in his rookie season with the Oilers, on the way to an all-star appearance and being voted as a finalist for the Calder Memorial trophy. But he ended up going 5-6 in 12 playoff starts, getting pulled in no fewer than four of those games on the way to a 3.68 goals-against average and .883 save percentage. Skinner showed he was able to bounce back from a poor performance on the way to a 5-1 series win in this year’s opening round against the Los Angeles Kings. But this series against the Canucks has been less than impressive for the Oilers starter. “Stu had a couple days to reset, take some time away and evaluate his game and think about some thing,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “But also spend some time on the ice and working on getting back to finding his game. “And we’ve seen Stu play unbelievable, really well for us, steal games. Just solid. And he’s been our guy for us all year, so in a situation like this that’s who we want in net.” E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge