Stuart Skinner Watches from the Bench as Penguins Silence Oilers - But the Goalie Debate Is Far From Over
The Stuart Skinner chapter in Edmonton ended not with a bang, but with a trade-and a whole lot of questions. After back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final, Skinner was moved to Pittsburgh in a bold (and, to many, baffling) goalie-for-goalie swap that brought Tristan Jarry to the Oilers crease.
The message was clear: Edmonton wanted change in net. But whether that change was actually an upgrade is still very much up for debate.
Let’s rewind for a second. Skinner wasn’t perfect in Edmonton, but he helped carry the team to the sport’s biggest stage two years in a row.
That’s no small feat. Still, some fans and decision-makers felt he wasn’t “the guy” to get them over the hump.
So when the Oilers shipped him off to Pittsburgh and brought in Jarry-who had his own share of injury concerns and a stat line that looked eerily similar to Skinner’s-it felt more like a sideways shuffle than a leap forward. And they paid a hefty price to make that move.
Naturally, the goalie swap set up one of those delicious hockey storylines: the inevitable reunion game. The first meeting came in Pittsburgh, and it was Edmonton who left with the win-putting five goals past their former netminder.
But the real drama was supposed to come when Skinner returned to Rogers Place in Edmonton. A shot at redemption.
A chance to stare down his old teammates. A moment to prove something.
Only… it didn’t happen.
When puck drop came Thursday night, Skinner wasn’t between the pipes. He was on the bench, backing up.
Instead of the emotional return many expected, he was held out in favor of starting the previous night in Calgary. That decision raised a few eyebrows, including Oilers reporter Ryan Rishaug, who voiced his surprise on the Got Yer’ Back podcast.
“I like Stu Skinner. I’m not trying to be overly hard on him,” Rishaug said.
“But when I heard he wasn’t playing tonight, that he was playing in Calgary, I was like, ‘Huh?’ Would the organization not have wanted to give him this start if he wanted it?”
The implication? Maybe Skinner didn’t push to play against his former team.
Maybe he opted for the Calgary start instead. If that’s the case, what does it say about where his head’s at?
Former NHL’er and analyst Rob Brown offered a different perspective: this wasn’t about personal revenge or narrative arcs-it was about the Penguins playing the percentages. Back-to-back games in Alberta are no joke, and teams often split starts between goalies to maximize rest and performance. Brown suggested the Penguins simply felt they had a better shot at two points with Skinner starting in Calgary.
And in the end, Pittsburgh didn’t need him in Edmonton.
The Penguins controlled the game from start to finish, despite a rough showing from Jarry, who gave up three goals on the first four shots he faced. It didn’t matter. Pittsburgh still walked away with the win, and Skinner, watching from the bench, got a quiet kind of victory-his new team outplayed his old one, while Edmonton’s new goalie struggled once again.
That’s where this gets interesting.
Tristan Jarry was supposed to solve the Oilers’ goaltending woes. So far, that hasn’t happened.
His .881 save percentage and 3.01 goals-against average are tough numbers to defend, especially for a team with championship aspirations. Meanwhile, Skinner has settled in nicely with the Penguins, posting a .902 save percentage and a 2.34 GAA.
The numbers don’t lie. Right now, Skinner is outplaying Jarry. And if Edmonton’s defensive issues persist, they may have to confront a tough possibility: they didn’t fix the problem-they just changed the jersey.
It’s still early in this new chapter for both goalies, and there’s plenty of hockey left to play. But the early returns suggest that Edmonton might’ve picked the wrong guy to move on from. And for Skinner, even if he didn’t get his revenge game in net, he’s got something better: a fresh start, a winning team, and a chance to write the next part of his story on his own terms.