The Edmonton Oilers have been struggling for consistency this season mostly because of poor goaltending, and last night, Coach Knoblauch finally pointed to Stuart Skinner as the problem.
For the first time this season, Knoblauch was critical of Skinner’s game when speaking to the media, pointing out the fact he hasn’t been able to find consistency this year.
“His game isn’t where it was last year. When I was here I thought he was one of the top goalies in the league. If he had a bad game, he’d bounce back the next night.We need to be more predictable in front of him so he knows where the shots are coming from.”
– Coach Kris Knoblauch
Being fair to Skinner, plenty of last night’s goals against came on major defensive breakdowns from the Oilers, and that’s where Knoblauch sees opportunity to improve.
But at some point, the goalie needs to make a save. Not every quality chance against can go in the net.
Right now, Skinner’s save percentage is a brutal .876. That ranks him as the 3rd worst goalie in the NHL, and it’s only 3 percentage points higher than Jack Campbell last season.
Even Edmonton media members who have ardently defended Skinner through this tough start are now beginning to show signs of real concern.
Jason Gregor believes that the Oilers will start Cal Pickard on Saturday night against the Rangers, giving Skinner a long rest and some practice time with goalie coach Dustin Schwartz.
The reality is that the Oilers are coming up on the quarter mark of the NHL season with by far the worst goaltending in the league, which doesn’t line up with their Stanley Cup aspirations.
If Stuart Skinner continues to wade in the Jack Campbell territory of save percentage, the Oilers desperately need to make a trade for a goaltender.
Earlier this season, goalie analyst Steve Valiquette revealed that Stuart Skinner has the worst lateral movement in the NHL, and teams have been clearly exploiting that information.
Just last week, the San Jose Sharks called up goalie Yaroslav Askarov, which could put Mackenzie Blackwood available for trade – a goalie with a .910 save percentage on a far worse team, for the same salary as Skinner.
Now that both the coach and the media are starting to show real signs of concern over Stuart Skinner, he’ll need to prove that he can bounce back quickly, or the Oilers need to make a deal for another starting goalie.
