Edmonton Oilers’ Goalie Skinner Leads Team to Next Playoff Round, Opponent Looming – NHL Monday Recap

Also because they didn’t have an outstanding goaltender, the Edmonton Oilers had already failed in their great goal of winning the Stanley Cup in the second round last season. And in 2023/24, Stuart Skinner wasn’t just a guarantee of points for his side, who could sometimes win close games under coach Kris Knoblauch, but usually rely on the outstanding offense .

What happened early Monday morning (CEST) in Los Angeles was much more surprising: the Oilers unusually won the fourth game of the series against the Kings 1-0, and even more unusually Skinner was the winner the big game. The 25-year-old stopped all 33 of the hosts’ attempts and marked the first playoff shutout of his career. So far in this year’s playoffs he has an impressive save rate of 91.9 percent.

Defenseman Evan Bouchard scored the game-winning goal on the first power play in the 32nd minute with an assist from Leon Draisaitl, who already recorded his eighth point-scorer of the series and is only behind his teammate Connor McDavid (10) in the league. The Oilers’ top duo has delivered so far, even if Kings goaltender David Rittich was barely challenged in his first start of the series and made just twelve saves.

Good Boeser leads Canucks to 3:1 – Rangers already on

Only one win is needed for Edmonton, who can play at home again in the fifth meeting to advance. The Vancouver Canucks are going to be the opponents in the next round. The Pacific Division winners – five points ahead of the Oilers – also hold a 3-1 lead in their series against the Nashville Predators. In the 4-3 away win after overtime, Brock Boeser added another period 3-pointer with a late double strike (58th / 60th), in which Elias Lindholm scored after 62 seconds.

The New York Rangers are the first team to advance to the next round. The winner of the President’s Cup as the best team of the regular season won the fourth duel with the Washington Capitals, who had received a wild card for the playoffs at the last minute, but reached their limits there against Rangers. Artemi Panarin led the hosts to 4-2 with a goal and an assist. Next is the Carolina Hurricanes or the New York Islanders, with the former leading the series 3-1.

Nichushkin scored three goals

This also applies to the Colorado Avalanche, who won against the Winnipeg Jets for the third time in a row after the angry 6:7 at the beginning. After 5:2 and 6:2 it was 5:1, where Valeri Nichushkin got a goal for the first time and Nathan MacKinnon two assists.