Stuart Skinner made 43 saves for his first shutout of the season as the Edmonton Oilers blanked the Los Angeles Kings 2-0 Thursday night at Rogers Place.
“(My) confidence grows as the team is doing such a good job in front of me,” Skinner said post-game. “For a full 60 minutes, we just battled hard and to be able to get the two points is massive.”
The Oilers killed off an early power play after Connor McDavid was called for boarding when he delivered a big hit on Mikey Anderson deep in the Kings end. Anderson was injured and didn’t return to the game.
“Obviously, I’m not trying to hurt anybody, I just thought I rode him into the boards—I didn’t want him to jump by me,” McDavid said. “I didn’t think it was all that dirty or violent.”
In the final minute of the first, Leon Draisaitl sent a spinning backhand pass to Evander Kane, who rifled his 15th of the season past Joonas Korpisalo.
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“He’s got a great way of finding guys. He’s obviously one of the best in the world,” Skinner said of Draisaitl’s passing ability. “Impressive pass, great goal and huge to get up 1-0 in the first period.”
Halfway through the second, Adrian Kempe went in alone on Stuart Skinner. Kempe went to the backhand deke, but Skinner manifested a stretching glove save.
“I thought he was really good,” McDavid said of his goaltender. “He made some really big saves, especially in the second period, and coming down the stretch they did a good job of pressing and had a couple chances but he held us in.”
“He made a nice move and he actually beat me,” Skinner said, “but I was able to catch him on the glove and he was a little bit upset about it.”
Four minutes into the third, McDavid stole the puck at the Oilers blue line and sped away on a shorthanded breakaway. He flicked a wrister past Korpisalo for his 300th career goal.
Skinner held the fort down the stretch, making several good saves in the final moments.
“He was tremendous tonight—the best player on the ice for sure,” Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm said of Skinner.
“I think he’s mature beyond his years,” Woodcroft said of his goaltender post-game. “He came up with the big save at the right time.”
The Oilers, who have six games remaining, move a point ahead of the Kings into second in the Pacific Division. The Kings have seven games left.
The Oilers, 44-23-9, will host the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 6:30 p.m., game at 8 p.m.).
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