BUFFALO — Today’s Edmonton Oilers are never going to be yesterday’s New Jersey Devils.
There will be no 22-save shutouts for Stuart Skinner, the way there were for the great Martin Brodeur, where 18 of the shots come from outside the hashmarks.
This is a team that is still waiting for its first shutout this season — and that’s not on the goalies. They are the highest scoring team in the National Hockey League, but that mantle comes at a price — one that tends to get paid by the guy in goal.
“I don’t know if I completely believe that,” began Stuart Skinner, who gave his team all the opportunity it needed to win a 3-2 game at Buffalo that was, in reality, a 5-4 game in disguise. “We’ve played some games where we have gotten all the shots from the outside. Against Toronto (a 5-2 win), one of the best teams in the league, we did that. We definitely have it in here…”
On a Monday in Western New York, the up and coming Sabres and the slightly more established Oilers put on a show, splitting up 35 shots on goal in the first period alone. But unlike Saturday in Winnipeg, Edmonton simply got one more save than the other guys, as the 24-year-old rookie Skinner outduelled 41-year-old Craig Anderson in a beauty at the KeyBank Center.
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Amazingly, the score was tied 1-1 after that wild opening 20 minutes, before the clubs settled down somewhat.
While Saturday’s 7-5 loss in Winnipeg was a nightmare for Jack Campbell, Skinner was feeling pretty good about the opening 20 — even if the coach was likely pulling his hair out.
“It’s a lot more fun when you’re making saves. When you come out at 1-1,” Skinner said. “I mean it’s definitely fun for me. I get to do my thing out there.”
Hey, these are Connor McDavid’s Oilers.
Fun to watch means fun to watch — at both ends.
“Every single team, no matter how defensively good you are, (gives up chances),” Skinner said. “Martin Brodeur had those games where he had to make some unbelievable saves too. As a goalie that’s what you got to do.”
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Oh boy, did the Oilers need some evidence that Skinner is ready to seize the starter’s role down the stretch, and he gave them every reason to start him in both Boston on Thursday and Toronto two nights later.
“They play a fast-paced, open style of hockey,” said Zach Hyman, who had a plus-2 night on a line with Connor McDavid and at first Ryan McLeod, then later the industrious Warren Foegele. “There are going to be chances both ways with the way that they play. Winning the game 3-2 was really big.”
No one wants to kick Campbell when he’s down. But there is simply a sense of calm that envelopes a team whose goalie makes all the saves he is supposed to, and a few that he is not.
This was high event hockey, with NaturalStatTrick charting the scoring chances at 35-33 for Buffalo, and the high danger chances at 13-12 for the Oilers. The shots on goal ended at 39-37 for the Sabres, and Skinner comes out with a save percentage of .966.
“He made all the big stops, kept us in the game. Played great,” said Hyman.
We’re not sure that anyone in this dressing room cares which goalie finds the kind of game they are going to need down the stretch and into the playoffs. As long as one of Campbell or Skinner gets it done.
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“Any team that goes on and wins the Stanley Cup has a goalie that’s making saves,” said Hyman. “You don’t win (without that). Stu played great tonight. He’s a huge part of our team.”
Speaking of playing great, McDavid had another two-goal game — the sixth in his last eight starts. He’s at 54 goals and 124 points — both career- and league-highs.
“Only 124?” joked Skinner.
McDavid pounced on a rebound behind the net and beat Anderson to the far post on a wrap-around to open the scoring. Then he sifted one underneath the Sabres ‘tender off the rush for the game-winner.
It’s a puck that Anderson stopped all night long, but somehow it’s just different when the greatest player in the game is shooting it. When a guy has 54 goals in 65 games, we’re not blaming a goalie when he rips off another two-goal game.
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Derek Ryan potted his 11th on an excellent night for the fourth line, who kept the puck in Buffalo’s end more often than not. It was a rare night when head coach Jay Woodcroft settled on a traditional 12-forwards, six-defencemen lineup, and they looked stable.
“Everyone was rolling. It was nice to see all four lines rolling, going 12 and six,” said Foegele. “It’s kind of nice to play with some consistent linemates. Feel a rhythm. Now we’ve got a very big game coming up. Gotta be ready for it.”
These are the games this team has leaked away in the past. But not tonight, which is important with road games in Boston and Toronto next on the docket.
“It’s good that we can get wins like tonight. Win a 3-2 game and build off that,” Foegele said. “We had the lead there with (16:37) left in the third period and we shut it down. That’s huge for our group. It was a mature win, and that’s something we have to grasp and continue going into the playoffs.”
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