NFL News NFL News, Reports and Updates
Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterMay 18, 2024, 11:50 PM ET
CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
He spent the week on the bench. But by Saturday, Stuart Skinner had the Edmonton Oilers a win away from their second Western Conference final in three years.
Skinner returned to the net for the first time since Game 3 last Sunday as he made 14 saves Saturday in the Oilers’ 5-1 series-tying win in Game 6 against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Game 7 will be played Monday at Rogers Arena in Vancouver as the winner will face the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference final starting Thursday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
“I think by doing what we did tonight, I think we just showed a lot of desperation,” Pickard said on the ESPN broadcast. “Guys were blocking shots all over the place. I think both teams played great. You gotta give a lot of credit to Vancouver, but you know Vancouver is going to come out really hard especially in their barn. I think we’re going to have to match that and bring some more.”
Averaging 3.80 goals per game during the playoffs while boasting a defensive structure that’s been among the strongest when it comes to limiting shots on goals and scoring chances is the formula the Oilers have used to come within a game of the Western Conference final.
Figuring out how the Oilers could mesh their defensive structure with the most consistent version of Skinner, however, was one of those challenges they were trying to solve in a series in which the first five games were decided by a goal.
Especially when the Oilers limited the Canucks to 19.3 shots in the first three games only to find themselves down in the series with Skinner posting a 4.63 goals-against average and a .790 save percentage through Game 3.
Saturday saw the connection between the Oilers’ defensive structure and Skinner finally click.
The Oilers, who had limited teams to 24.91 scoring chances per 60, limited the Canucks to 18 scoring chances in 5-on-5…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40176108/stuart-skinner-great-return-oilers-force-game-7
Author : Ryan Clark
Publish date : 2024-05-19 06:07:59
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.
