Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner must feel like he has a target painted on his back these days.
It was another great night between the pipes for the Edmonton native as he turned aside all 30 shots from the LA Kings to secure a 1-0 shutout victory. It was his second recorded shutout of the season and the second time in three games that he has held the opposition off the board.
That didn’t come without some bumps and bruises. Fresh off last week’s railroading from Boston Bruins’ defender Nikita Zadorov, Skinner now had to deal with a forearm shiver from ex-Oilers teammate Warren Foegele, who crashed the net in the third period.
Skinner’s mask popped off on the play and he made sure to give Foegele a healthy slash after the fact. Though he seemed angry in the moment, he seemed to cool down after the game when Daily Hive asked him about it.
“It’s a good play by them to get the puck to the net,” Skinner admitted. “[Foegele] likes to rough it up, especially against guys he knows.
“It’s a good time to have a little laugh but you gotta make sure to stop the puck.”
“After games like that you always want to come back & really show the guys you can bounce back. I think that’s an extremely important thing for a goalie to do.”
Stuart Skinner on rebounding from the loss in Pittsburgh with a shutout vs. the Kings.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/k7wJWbR5kf
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) January 14, 2025
Stu looked no worse for wear after the play as he did manage to stay perfect and secure the victory for the Oilers. He was the story of the game for an Edmonton squad that desperately needed to create some separation from the Kings in the standings.
Perhaps the best save out of the 30 that he made came early in the first period. Kings’ captain Anze Kopitar was able to find sniper Adrien Kempe on a 2-on-1 rush but was denied by a diving Skinner.
“My son is living [that save] out in the basement against me,” Skinner joked. “It was a good save… Kempe got a good shot and I just went into a spread and did everything I could.
“It was kind of an out-of-the-box save and got enough for it to go above the net, thank goodness. It was a really good save and it’s what we need.”
STUART SKINNER WITH THE DEFLECTION! 🔵🟠
He gets just enough on this one to flip it onto the top of the net! pic.twitter.com/jeGbtDtA78
— NHL (@NHL) January 14, 2025
The victory follows an encouraging trend for Skinner this season as he is a perfect 9-0-0 in games following a loss. He was lit up for five goals against the Pittsburgh Penguins on 26 shots.
Skinner now holds a 17-9-3 record this season and has seen his SV% climb from the mid-.880 range up to .902 on the season. That is the type of goaltending this team will need if they want to battle their way back to the Stanley Cup Final.
We’ll see if Skinner can continue to stay hot when as the team embarks on yet another road trip later this week.