Edmonton Oilers called out for not retaliating after hit on Stuart Skinner

The Edmonton Oilers are coming off a strong 4-0 victory over the Boston Bruins, and they almost secured the perfect win.

While Stuart Skinner recorded a shut-out a played extremely well, the game cam with it’s fair share of controversy.

With just minutes left in the 1st period, Boston Bruins defenceman Nikita Zadorov took the puck along the boards and came charging in to the Oilers net, unfortunately, Nikita Zadorov made no attempt to slow down, colliding hard with Stuart Skinner a massive hit.

Stuart Skinner appeared to be shaken up and stayed down for a few minutes. Edmonton Oilers trainer TD Forrs came out to provide the initial intake on Stuart Skinner, and ultimately advised him to go down the tunnel for medical assistance.

Luckily, Stuart Skinner was able to draw back in for the second period, where he showcased his best performance between the pipes so far.

Edmonton Oilers break hockey code

According to Liam McCormick of Oilers Daily, Evan Bouchard and Brett Kulak stood around in disbelief, gesturing towards the referees in the immediate aftermath. Throughout the rest of the game, there was barely any payback for the hard contact on Skinner.

In every level of hockey, it’s an undisputed rule that the team protects their goaltender from any and all contact. The Oilers broke this piece of the hockey code, and it’s the one blemish on an otherwise perfect win.

As per Oilers Nation, Zadorov has made himself public enemy number one in Edmonton more than once before, and while Skinner lay face-down on the ice, there wasn’t so much as a peep from any of the Oilers on the ice.
But Skinner himself wasn’t concerned.

«I can only speak for myself, I wasn’t too worried about it. He’s also eight feet tall, so I wasn’t expecting anyone to go fists with him,» he said with a smile.

-Stuart Skinner

The Oilers toughness has been called into question before.

There was no response from the Oilers, but that shouldn’t be a surprise. Players have said that an emotional response from the team isn’t what they always need in situations like these.

Currently, they rank last in the NHL for hits (517) and hit a season low just weeks ago against the San Jose Sharks, managing only 3 hits that game.