Oilers coach Knoblauch makes choice that could jeopardize playoff run
In tonight's Oilers game, the objective was clearly to rest the star players before the playoffs. The team was essentially the B squad tonight, but Knoblauch still started Stuart Skinner.
Against an Avalanche team that was instead looking to sharpen their game, starting Skinner was a clear mistake when Colorado tuned up the Oilers for 4 goals in the first period. Now, plenty of Oilers fans and media are calling out the decision to start Skinner, and risking destroying his confidence or a potential injury with this B Squad game.
It's understandable because Pickard did play last night against the Coyotes, but in this situation you would still rather risk Pickard on short rest than throw the starting goaltender to the wolves right before the playoffs. It may have been a bit of oversight on the part of Knoblauch and the Oilers to even slot Skinner in for this start at all, especially when he could've played last night instead. Hopefully, he's pulled early and Pickard can sub-in.
Hopefully Skinner at least comes out of this game healthy, and with his confidence from his stellar year intact. With the amount of talent Edmonton has sitting in the playoffs, the result of this game isn't a worry at all - but getting through it healthy and confident should be the objective from Knoblauch and the team.
In other Oilers news, details of their playoff schedule have begun to emerge. It looks like it will grant them some rest early on, to compensate for this busy week they've had to end the year. Hopefully, Skinner can take advantage of that time to rest up.
| POLL | ||
Do you think Knoblauch should've started Pickard or Skinner for tonight's Oilers game? | ||
| Skinner | 147 | 23.4 % |
| Pickard | 297 | 47.3 % |
| Call up Jack Campbell tonight | 145 | 23.1 % |
| See Results | 39 | 6.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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