Knoblauch: Oilers knew 'outstanding' Skinner's shutout was coming
Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch figured goaltender Stuart Skinner was due for his bounce-back, 23-save shutout against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4.
"Stu is an outstanding goalie, and you know any time that he has a bad game, or with time off, he usually comes back with a really solid game," the bench boss said after Edmonton's 3-0 win Monday. "There's only so many times that he's not going to stand on his head or go a long period of time without having a game like that.
"We knew it was coming, and he made some really good saves, especially early on when we needed it. ... Not only did he make all the saves, but I thought he looked very confident doing it."
The victory was Skinner's first this postseason in his fourth appearance. He struggled mightily in the opening two games against the Los Angeles Kings, surrendering 11 goals on 58 shots.
Edmonton then turned to running mate Calvin Pickard, who helped the Oilers win their next six games before being injured in Game 2 versus Vegas.
Skinner was beaten four times on 24 shots in his return between the pipes in Game 3 as Vegas got on the board in the series, thanks to a buzzer-beater with 0.4 seconds left.
Skinner said he wasn't worried about his statistics during his underwhelming start to the playoffs.
"Numbers don't really matter, especially in playoffs," he said. "The biggest thing is just trying to give your team a chance to win. If you let in five and it's a 5-5 game going into OT, you're giving your team a chance to win.
"Honestly, it doesn't really bother me. It's about the wins."
Luckily for Edmonton, Skinner rebounded in a big way in Game 4.
He saved 1.96 goals above expected at all strengths Monday for his first postseason shutout since Game 4 against the Kings in the opening round last spring, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Oilers forward Adam Henrique was impressed by his netminder's resilience with his performance under the microscope.
"It's great to see him come out of that and just be him," he said. "We all face pressure, but to be a No. 1 goalie in a market like this, there's probably extra pressure. ... You gotta be ready, and he did his job when he wasn't playing."
Henrique added, "We've got all the confidence in the world in him."
Skinner joked that he wasn't aware of any extra pressure.
"What outside noise? I have no idea," he said. "No clue what's going on."
Edmonton will try to eliminate Vegas in Game 5 on Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. ET.