For the second straight game in the Stanley Cup Finals, Stuart Skinner watched his team lose. The Edmonton Oilers surrendered six goals to the Florida Panthers in Game 3, giving Florida a commanding series lead — and according to Skinner, falling right into their opponent’s game plan.
Skinner had a front-row seat as the Panthers poured in goals, including one from Brad Marchand that secured a historic NHL milestone. After the game, the Oilers goaltender was blunt in his assessment.
“Right away I thought we ended up playing what Florida wanted,” Skinner told reporters. “Little bit of a track meet, little bit of grinding, lots of penalties. It was just penalty chaos tonight.”
He credited the Panthers for setting the tone
“They just were gritty tonight,” Skinner said, acknowledging Florida’s relentless pressure across the ice. “They made some nice shots,” he added, even admitting that luck was on his side on a few saves he did manage to stop.
“I mean as a goalie, you got to come up with the save,” he continued. “It doesn’t matter. It’s a game of inches. If I’m a quarter of an inch farther out on Verhaeghe’s goal, that could be a save — same with Reinhart. I don’t like open shots, so I take accountability on those.”
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Oilers unravel under pressure
Skinner also addressed the team’s lack of composure in the loss, as Florida clearly succeeded in getting under their skin. “There’s a lot of emotions that are going into this,” he said. “We’re trying to win a Cup, they’re trying to win a Cup…” He pointed to Florida’s physical and psychological tactics.
“They were cross-checking everybody, they were fighting us, they were doing everything to get under our skin…” But Skinner was clear: despite the loss, Edmonton isn’t backing down. “We were not in the game tonight, but it doesn’t change how we’re going to respond.”
