Stuart Skinner's biggest weakness exposed versus Colorado Avalanche
It was a tough night for Stuart Skinner as the Edmonton Oilers netminder was exposed and showed a great weakness against the Colorado Avalanche.
Question marks around Skinner's consistency as a goaltender has always been around since he was anointed the starting goaltender after the departure of former Oilers starter Jack Campbell.
Skinner has struggled against top 10 teams this season
Skinner has gone on long stretches of excellent play but other times he has looked weak or unable to string some wins together, especially against top teams.
Oilers fans have reached out on social media to give their opinions and some feel that Skinner may not be the goaltender that can take them to the finish line even though they went to the Stanley Cup finals last year. Especially against a top contender like Colorado, Skinner got exposed quickly.
After the game, Coach Knoblauch confirmed that it was the two weak goals to start that convinced him to pull Skinner for Pickard in the second period.
The 26-year-old netminder has played 36 starts this year and has compiled a record of 20-12-4 with a 2.68 goals against and a save percentage of .902 which has improved over the past several weeks with the Oilers resetting themselves and regaining first in the Pacific division.
Pundits have linked other goalies to the Oilers
As the March trade deadline approaches, several goaltenders have been linked to the Oilers over the past couple of weeks as many feel this could be a position that needs to be reinforced.
Several names including Karel Vejmelka of the Utah hockey club and John Gibson of the Anaheim Ducks as possible trade targets with both teams likely not to make the playoffs.
Many people feel that adding a goaltender for the Stanley Cup playoffs with solidify the Oilers in their back end and give the team a chance to go all the way to the end.
Skinner has one year remaining on his deal an adding a goaltender with either term or able to resign would give Skinner a chance to tandem and not burnout himself.
It will be a topic that will be widely discussed over the next several weeks and remains to be seen on whether it will be resolved, or Skinner will be the starter with Calvin Pickard.
