‘Almost anybody would be better than him in there’: Oilers fans sound off on Stuart Skinner after Game 3 loss

The Edmonton Oilers saw their playoff win streak end on Saturday night with just 0.4 seconds left on the clock.

After Connor McDavid tied the game 3-3 late in the third period, overtime seemed inevitable. But a last-second goal by the Golden Knights sealed the loss, and fans were quick to blame goaltender Stuart Skinner, who was already under intense scrutiny.

“I’ve run out of things to say to Stu Skinner. Here’s one more. He better not start another f***ing game for this team F*** off already seriously.” – NHL_Bouchard via X

“No matter where the shot is coming from or if it’s going in or not, a goalie should never be this far from the crease when the other team has possession. Blaming Draisaitl on this is insane too, it’s not his fault he had to try to play goalie.” – Oilersopinions via X

“If Pickard can’t go on Monday, I’d start Rodrique. Skinner is done in Edmonton.” – THarris519 via X

“This has to be it for Skinner in Edmonton. For everybody’s sanity. His, the coaches, the teams, the fans. Just way too toxic and not enough track record of being good enough. It’s been time for a change in goal for a while now, and being outplayed by Pickard…” – Rangerbob94 via X

“Did we pull the goalie in the dying seconds of the game? Where’s the goalie? Oh… It’s Skinner. Makes sense.” – Stuartforreal via Instagram

“If Pickard plays, the Oilers are up 3-0 in the series. Skinner is so bad lol.” – Ianthomas21 via Instagram

“Stuart Strainer is brutal. The Oilers weren’t great but it’s not easy playing in front of that. He’s awkward, has the worst lateral movement in the league, next to no hockey sense to read plays, plays to deep in his net and is not mentally tough. Almost anybody would be better than him in there.” – Pete Mattson via Facebook

Many observers on social media were critical of Skinner’s play in Game 3, hyper-fixating on every goal allowed. However, some felt he wasn’t the only culprit behind the Oilers’ loss that night.

“Don’t blame Skinner, he played a great game, hasn’t played in about a month made some great saves and kept them in the game, so please stop complaining about the goaltending if you think it’s easy coming into a series with such an intense atmosphere you don’t understand the game, they didn’t play their A game for sure but don’t panic they will regroup relax.” – Junior Martell via Facebook

“Can’t just blame this on Skinner. That last play, Nurse just layed on his belly and let Smith skate around him, if he poke checked or held him on the outside it would’ve been a different story. Oh, and the bad line changes cost them.” – Sonny Roy via Facebook

“The Knights were the better team all game (except for the period when the Oil went up 2-0). The Oilers didn’t deserve to win tonight and need to be much better next gam. Skinner made a lot of really tough saves and I don’t blame him solely for this loss. Drai made more mistakes that directly cost them three goals. S***** giveaways at the offensive blue line have cost them goals all year long and still plague them in the playoffs. Need to button it down and come out flying next game.” – Mark Watkin via Facebook

“Stuart Skinner made the right play. He knew there were 2-3 seconds left for Smith to shoot it from that left side. He came out and made himself look big in the net and gave Reilly Smith nothing to look at it. Unfortunate if you’re Draisaitl, though.” – Jacob Pacheco via X

“As Bill Ranford once said to me, ‘Now I’m supposed to stop the shots that are going wide?!?’ Skinner forced the shooter to miss the net. His teammate deflected it in. You figure out whose fault that is.” – Mark Spector via X

“The whole team played like trash after we were up 2-0 minus Corey Perry. You all need to freaking stop and move on we are up 2-1 for god sakes.” – Annabanana via X

“Draisaitl and Skinner will get the most flack for the GWG but what a horrid shift by Kulak. Carelessly turns it over in the OZ with 15s left, and then fails to take away Karlsson’s pass in the DZ. And it’s all topped off by an embarrassing attempt at defence by Nurse at the end.” – NHL_Sid via X

It was a night when it was easy to blame the goaltending, but if you look at the whole picture, the Oilers had a couple of players drop the ball in Game 3. As fans have pointed out, Draisaitl, Nurse, and even Brett Kulak, who’s been steady all post-season, had a game to forget.

The Oilers will look to reset and clean up their game as they face the Golden Knights in Game 4 at Rogers Place on Monday at 7:30 PM MT.