Goaltenders bear much of the scrutiny that comes with the type of lopsided game seen in Sunrise, Florida, on Monday night. And rightly so.
To let in five goals to Sergei Bobrovsky’s one with only 15 minutes left in game three, Stuart Skinner was right, in part, to question his performance.
Five minutes of five-on-five does little to adjust yourself one day after the longest flight in the NHL, but “Bob (Bobrovsky) had to do it, too,” began Skinner.
“As a goalie, you gotta come up with a save,” explained the 45-minute netminder. “It’s a game of inches. If I’m a quarter of an inch farther on (Carter) Verhage’s goal, then it could be a save. Same with (Sam) Reinhart.
“I don’t like letting open shots in, so I take accountability on those.”
As did many of those in attendance, viewing the game, or placing wagers on whether Skinner or Calvin Pickard would start the third period in net.
It was Skinner, but only until an early goal in the final twenty minutes sneaked past him on the penalty kill, and those at home cheered as Pickard skated onto the ice.
Connor McDavid’s thoughts on the matter?
“I don’t know about that,” countered McDavid on Skinner’s personnel assessment. “Could we have been better on the first one? Maybe just a little bit of a scramble. They get it, we don’t. I’m sure we could have been better in front of him there.”
“And on the penalty kill, they’ve some shooters, if you give them that much time, they’re going to make their shot.
“So I don’t know how much we’re going to put on Stu, but that’s honourable of him to try and do that, but we can be better.”
Better on the penalty kill, better on the power play, better at staying five-on-five, new or old goaltender, and if Skinner was upset at the team in front of him or coach for pulling him, you wouldn’t have guessed.
There comes a point where it’s a courtesy to pull the goaltender, for himself, and the man might start the next game.
So, the big question.
Will Pickard get the start in game four? How unsatisfied was head coach Kris Knoblauch with Skinner’s performance? You know we had to ask.
“I don’t think Stu had a chance on many of those goals,” began Knoblauch. “I think collectively, goaltending, defence, all our forwards, we all have to be better.”
“(And) we haven’t made a decision on goaltending (for game four).”
Because this is the Stanley Cup final and because this information does matter to the Panthers, we won’t know until puck drop on game four.
In the meantime, there are certain things to consider:
Skinner has three shutouts. Pickard is 6-0.
Skinner took the Oilers to game seven last year, and that still means something. Pickard is 6-0.
It’s difficult to say whether this game was a blip in Skinner’s playoff performance or a return to the regular season. Pickard is 6-0.
Alas, some stats, like goals, matter more than others.
“To be honest, some were chaotic, some were really nice shots, they got a little post lucky,” explained Skinner on game three. “But I’ve had my post luck too, so it goes both ways, and they made nice shots.
“That’s hockey, and if I wasn’t able to handle it, then I shouldn’t be playing.”
(A little on the nose)
If Pickard gets the start, it would (fingers crossed) trigger a more productive game from the Oilers’ defencemen, who, like most, were not blameless in the six goals against on Monday night.
While it starts in net for the penalty kill, and countless other areas of the game, it doesn’t always end there.
“This is one moment where we definitely have to look in the mirror and change a couple of things,” agreed Skinner.
