NHL insider shows confidence in Oilers’ Stuart Skinner despite tough loss to Florida.
Stuart Skinner made 22 saves and allowed six goals in Monday’s 6-5 loss to the Florida Panthers. Skinner had trouble keeping the Panthers out of the net. That includes three third-period goals to allow Florida to come back and win.
Despite that, one hockey analyst isn’t concerned with goaltending. Bob Stauffer has confidence in who Skinner is and who he’s going to become in this sport.
“I’m not worried about Skinner,” Stauffer said on his podcast (8:00 onwards). “He’s twenty-six. He’s gonna bounce back from that performance. He’s still got a lot. He’s a big goaltender. He’s got he’s got room to grow. He’s going to improve his puck handling. He’ll improve his club side.”
Evan Bouchard also struggled on Monday, but Stauffer isn’t worried about him, either. Stauffer said he could tell Bouchard was hurt following the Minnesota Wild game, and that he hasn’t been great of late, but it’s not concerning.
“The one thing I do wonder a bit after watching Vegas, and Florida is I thought they leaned on habitat, and that was part of what got them going, is the degree of physicality, they played in my winter,” Stauffer added.
Oilers coach points to defense amid Stuart Skinner’s troubles
The Edmonton Oilers allowed six goals, but coach Kris Knoblauch didn’t blame Stuart Skinner. In fact, he believes the defense needs to tighten up.
Stuart Skinner has struggled of late (Imagn)
He said after the loss via Edmonton Journal:
“Some really bad mistakes, whether it was defense not getting the puck out, or line changes, just costly mistakes that shouldn’t happen.”
The Oilers defeated the Vegas Golden Knights before that, but they allowed 41 shots in that contest. He continued:
“Often the goalie will cover up those mistakes. But after the last two games, the amount of chances we’ve given up, we should have a little more attention to detail on the defensive side.”
Knoblauch would like to make Skinner’s job a little easier with better defensive play on the ice.
