Skinner pulled by Oilers in lopsided loss to Panthers in Game 3 of Final

SUNRISE, Fla. -- “We want Skinner!”

As he sat on the Edmonton Oilers bench early in the third period on Monday, goalie Stuart Skinner heard the capacity crowd at Amerant Bank Arena repeatedly serenade him with those three words.

It wasn’t a compliment. Anything but.

This was mockery in its rawest form.

Consider the circumstances.

Skinner and the Oilers were down 5-1 to the Florida Panthers with 16:33 still remaining in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. He’d just been pulled in favor of backup Calvin Pickard by coach Kris Knoblauch after being beaten for the fifth time on 23 shots, this one a power-play goal from Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad.

It was the 13th goal Skinner had allowed on 97 shots in the Final, which translates to an .866 save percentage and 3.74 goals-against average.

And now he was forced to sit on the bench and listen to the sarcastic barbs coming from the vocal throng at Amerant Bank Arena, all the while watching his team lose 6-1 to the Panthers.

Are the Oilers down 2-1 in the best-of-7 series solely because Skinner hasn’t played up to standard? No. It has, in fact, been just as much a case of the team’s sporadic defensive lapses as it has his moments of wobbly play.

But there is no doubt he needs to be better, something he was quick to point out afterward.

When asked about the goals that beat him on Monday, Skinner replied: “To be honest, some were chaotic, some were really nice shots. It got a little post lucky for them, a couple shots, but I mean, I've had my post luck, too. It goes both ways, and they made some nice shots. ... But as a goalie, you've got to come up with a save. It doesn't matter. It's a game of inches.”

Skinner was especially hard on himself regarding Florida’s second goal, scored by Carter Verhaeghe, and the third one, which came off the stick of Sam Reinhart just 80 seconds after Corey Perry had cut the lead to 2-1 early in the second period.

“I don't like letting open shots in, so I take accountability on those,” he said.

Oilers captain Connor McDavid thought Skinner’s decision to fall on the sword noble, though he dismissed the goalie’s notion of taking the blame.

“They’ve got some good players, good shooters,” McDavid said. “You give them so much time, they’re going to make their shot.

“I don’t know how much we’re going to put on Stu, but that’s honorable for him, I guess, to try to do that. But yeah, we can be better, for sure.”

As for any potential goaltending controversy heading into Game 4 here on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC), Knoblauch offered no clarity.

"No, we haven't made a decision on goaltending,” he said. “And Stu I don't think had much chance on many of those goals.

“I think collectively, goaltender, defense, all our forwards, we all have to be better.”

For his part, Skinner feels they can be just that, even though they now are chasing the series for the second consecutive year. Last spring, the Oilers rallied from a 3-0 series deficit against the Panthers in the Final only to come out on the short end of a 2-1 score in Game 7.

Still, is it more difficult to rebound from a one-sided loss than a close one?

"It may feel like it, but I don't think it is just because it's a series,” Skinner said. “They're up 2-1. That's all it is. It's one game. They could've beat us 12-0 and it's the same result. It's still just 2-1. It's not like if they win by any more that they go up extra.

“It might feel a little bit harder just because we weren't in the game tonight, but it doesn't change how we're going to respond.”

They’ll have to find a way to do just that if they don’t want the series to get away from them.

“I mean, no matter who you're playing against, if you don't show up, teams are going to hurt you,” Skinner said. “You can play anybody in the NHL. It's a good league. We know that. We've experienced it tonight. We've experienced it many times before tonight, so we know what we're going to be up against.

“It doesn't change how we're going to respond again. We’ve got two days to come back, and I think there's some things that we're going to have to change.”

Including getting more saves from whoever is in goal.