EDMONTON — Stuart Skinner was born and raised in Edmonton. He was 7 in 2006, the final time the Edmonton Oilers made the Stanley Cup Last. He is aware of the tales of the championships of 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1990.
When the Oilers hosted the Calgary Flames within the 2023 NHL Heritage Traditional at Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 29, his goalie gear paid tribute to Hockey Corridor of Famer Grant Fuhr. To verify everybody noticed his masks, he didn’t put on a toque.
He needed to dream of a second like this — in web, in Edmonton, for Edmonton, one win from the Cup Last. The Oilers can get there by defeating the Dallas Stars in Sport 6 of the Western Convention Last at house Sunday (8 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, MAX).
Does he give it some thought? Does he attempt to not?
“Neither,” the 25-year-old mentioned after the Oilers’ 3-1 win in Sport 5 at American Airways Middle in Dallas on Friday, sitting on the rostrum subsequent to ahead Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. “Simply staying within the second.”
Nugent-Hopkins nodded in settlement.
“Tomorrow, I get to reside my life and go on the aircraft and beat these guys at Mario Kart,” Skinner mentioned.
Nugent-Hopkins laughed, shook his head and mouthed the phrase “no.”
“I’ll in all probability get a pair first locations,” Skinner mentioned. “I’m certain of it. And apart from that, it’s going to be superior to return house and be a dad, after which the following day, it’s time to get again to work.”
Maybe that’s the most effective method. Don’t enhance the strain. Launch it. He ought to chill out on the flight, get away from the rink and revel in time along with his spouse, Chloe, and their 1-year-old son, Beau.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs have offered twists and turns like Mario Kart, however Skinner has a shot at first place.
Skinner was pulled from Sport 3 of the second spherical after permitting 4 objectives on 15 pictures in a 4-3 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Trailing the best-of-7 collection 2-1, the Oilers began Calvin Pickard in Sport 4. After a 3-2 win, they began Pickard once more in Sport 5. After a 3-2 loss, they went again to Skinner for Sport 6.
Since then, Skinner has gone 5-2 with a 1.92 goals-against common and .908 save share.