The Edmonton Oilers will get their first crack at revenge against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday night. For the second straight season, the Oilers came painfully close to snapping Canada's championship drought. They lost in six games to the Panthers in the Finals one year after losing in seven.
Expectations were understandably high entering the 2025-26 season. But thus far, things have not gone as planned.
The Oilers are tied for fifth place in the Pacific Division, despite having played the most games in the league. Starting goaltender Stuart Skinner has struggled mightily this season.
He is coming off another poor performance in a loss to the Washington Capitals. He allowed five goals on 20 shots in a 7-4 loss.
Before leaving for the team's road trip, Skinner put his struggles into context, per NHL.com.
“Of course, I can only control so much, but that's my job. My job is to stop the puck, whether people like it or not,” Skinner said. “If I'm at the top of my game, we always have a chance to win; if I'm not, there's a good chance we're losing. That's every goalie in the League; if you have a bad night, most of the time, you're not winning the game.
“This is all a really good test for me and a really good challenge for us as a group to go through some adversity early here, and we know what that's like; we've been here before.”
The Oilers' goalie has an .882 save percentage with a 3.00 GAA. Far from ideal from a team's top netminder.
Interestingly, the Panthers have been equally as inconsistent this year. They also have 23 points and are tied for fifth in the Atlantic Division.
