The Edmonton Oilers are known for their strong offensive play with stars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but lately, they have been getting noticed for their goaltending as well.
Goalies Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard will lead the Oilers as they face the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night in a matchup between two high-scoring teams.
Skinner ended last season on a rough note, allowing the goal that ended the Oilers’ chance to win the Stanley Cup in Game 7 of the Final. The goal, scored by Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers, put the Panthers ahead 2-1 in the second period, and Edmonton couldn’t recover.
Even after that tough moment, Skinner has bounced back this season. He is 3-1-0 with a 1.52 goals-against average and a .945 save percentage in his last four games.
Skinner wasn’t chosen for Canada’s 4 Nations Face-Off roster, with goalies Jordan Binnington (St. Louis Blues), Adin Hill (Vegas Golden Knights), and Sam Montembeault (Montreal Canadiens) making the team instead. However, Skinner has not been bothered by this.
“He’s been outstanding,” said Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch. “You look at the games we’ve won, and our goaltenders, including Pickard, have usually been better than the goalie on the other side.”
Edmonton is 6-2-0 in its last eight games, most recently defeating St. Louis 4-2 on Saturday.
On the other hand, the Tampa Bay Lightning kicked off a four-game road trip with a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. Brayden Point led the team with two goals and two assists, and Nikita Kucherov, who had missed two games due to an injury, returned to score one goal and add two assists.
Despite the win, Lightning coach Jon Cooper was not fully satisfied with his team’s performance and wants a faster start on Tuesday. Tampa Bay didn’t score in the first period and only had seven shots on goal, falling behind 1-0.
“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), got 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.”
Brayden Point was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week after having back-to-back games with at least four points. He now has 10 career four-point games and has reached 300 assists. He is also just one power-play goal away from 100 career goals on the power play.
There is some bad news for the Lightning, as center Anthony Cirelli may miss Tuesday’s game. Cirelli suffered an injury on Sunday against Vancouver and did not practice on Monday.
