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The Edmonton Oilers are two wins away from their second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final — and Stuart Skinner has been a huge reason why. Skinner made 33 saves on 34 shots on Sunday afternoon, backstopping the Oilers to a 6-1 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the Western Conference Final on home ice.
In the process, he joined a short list of goaltenders in the NHL's modern era, being just the fifth in league history to allow one or fewer goals through his first four wins of a postseason, per NHL Public Relations.
As the Vegas Golden Knights learned, and now the Stars are learning, Skinner is a brick will in the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite a small third period blip in Game 1, he's been absolutely lights out in the West Final.
And he's earning a ton of praise from his team in the process.
“For him to get dialed in and playing the way he is, as much help as you can give him, it lays on his shoulders and I think he’s done a tremendous job rebounding after a stretch after he hasn’t played well, and his stretches usually aren’t that long,” Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch said, per NHL.com's Derek Van Diest. “He usually rebounds quite quickly and plays a solid game. I’ve seen it all last year and this year during playoffs. That first round wasn’t how he anticipated, but since he’s come back he’s been really good.”
“I thought we were fortunate to be up after 40 minutes, but I thought Stu did a great job,” echoed captain Connor McDavid, who scored two goals in the triumph. “We played really solid in front of him in Game 2, but not so solid tonight, and he gave us a chance to get our legs into it and gave us a chance to win.”
After a third period collapse in Game 1, Skinner has allowed just one goal over 120 minutes of hockey — and he has the Oil on the verge of the Finals once again.
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Oilers looking to beat Stars in West Final for 2nd straight year
The Oilers beat the Stars in six games in the 2024 Western Conference Final, and they look like a juggernaut once again this time around. Dallas just can't find a way to consistently put the puck in the net, and that's going to need to change if they want to knot this series at two games apiece at Rogers Place on Tuesday night.
Even Mikko Rantanen, the Stars' best player in this postseason, gave Skinner his flowers afterwards.
“I think Skinner was a difference-maker tonight,” Rantanen said, per Van Diest. “I think he was really good. He made key saves. Even when it was 3-1, [Tyler Seguin] had a Grade A in the slot, and 10 seconds later it was 4-1. He was the MVP of the match, I would say.”
Despite being outshot 34-24, Skinner once again outdueled Jake Oettinger, who has struggled mightily in the series. If that doesn't change, it's going to be three straight West Final appearances for the Stars, and zero trips to the Finals to show for it.
Edmonton will look to take a 3-1 stranglehold in Game 4 on Tuesday night; puck is set to drop just past 8:00 p.m. ET at Rogers Place.
