Oilers' Stuart Skinner Ties For The NHL Lead In Playoff Shutouts:

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Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner recorded a shutout once again this post-season.

The Oilers beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 in Game 2 of the Western Conference final to tie the series at 1-1. While Edmonton blew a 3-1 lead in the third period of Game 1's 6-3 loss, the away team held on while being outshot 9-2 in the final frame of Game 2.

Skinner stopped 25 shots in the game, including a massive third-period stick save on Stars defenseman Esa Lindell. The blueliner had a wide-open net, but Skinner reached across to the right and got the heel of his stick on the ice to redirect the puck just past the left side of the net.

The 26-year-old Skinner recorded a 2.87 goals-saved-above-expected rating, which factors in the quality of chances, according to moneypuck.com.

Friday night's performance adds to an up-and-down playoffs for the goaltender.

"It's a rollercoaster," Skinner told ESPN's Emily Kaplan while sitting on the bench post-game. "It's every playoffs. I mean, no matter what happens, there's a lot of highs, there's a lot of lows. It doesn't matter who you are, what team you are. You're just going to face those challenges."

Skinner now has three shutouts in the 2024-25 NHL playoffs, tying Florida Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky for the league lead.

Bobrovsky, however, has played twice as many games as Skinner, at 14 to 7. They also have the same number of losses, at four. And Bobrovsky won seven other games without recording shutouts. Skinner hasn't.

In fact, Skinner kept an intriguing stat alive in Game 2: he's either won by recording a shutout or lost with a save percentage of .833 or below in these playoffs.

He allowed a combined 11 goals in his first two games against the Los Angeles Kings in Round 1, both losses, before the Oilers ran with Calvin Pickard for the rest of the round. Pickard went 6-0 to eliminate the Kings and take a 2-0 series lead against the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round before suffering an injury.

Skinner had an .833 save…

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