What Stuart Skinner will the Oilers get in the Stanley Cup Final?

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final is quickly approaching and a ton of the spotlight for the Edmonton Oilers is directly on their crease. Stuart Skinner has had an up-and-down postseason and has battled his way through the struggles, to help secure the Oilers a berth in the Cup final.

The Oilers netminder has appeared in 16 games so far throughout the playoffs, posting a 11-5 record. While he’s finding ways to keep his team in games, there continues to be concerns over his .897 save percentage and inconsistent play, more specifically back in the early parts of the postseason. Backup Calvin Pickard has even stepped in as the starter during the second-round against the Vancouver Canucks.

The net is now Skinner’s and he is coming off the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars where he was, at times, the best Oiler on the ice. Edmonton was regularly outshot against the Stars and Skinner stood tall, posting a .971 and .950 Sv.% to clinch the series and punch the Oilers ticket.

So, what should the Oilers and their fan base expect from Skinner against the Panthers with Game 1 Saturday night? On today’s episode of Daily Faceoff Live, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discussed the expectations surrounding in the Oilers’ crease:

Tyler Yaremchuk: What Stuart Skinner are the Oilers going to get? That’s a massive, massive part of this as well.

Frank Seravalli: It is, and look, the fact of the matter is, not to put this on one guy, if they get first-round half of second-round Stuart Skinner, this series could be short in favor of the Florida Panthers. They are ferocious. How will the Oilers manage their forecheck, all those questions are valid.

But can they get the key stop at the key moments and times? The last half of this playoff run, the Oilers have gotten that in spades from Stuart Skinner. They don’t win Game 6 without him against the Dallas Stars. He was unbelievable. 6-2 with a .920 save percentage and the way that he’s bounced back, if the Oilers ultimately three weeks from now etch their names in the Stanley Cup, you might want to underline Stuart Skinner because he’s a huge part of it. You can’t win without him.

You can watch the entire episode here: