GAME RECAP: Oilers 4, Panthers 2

SUNRISE, FLA -When the Oilers needed him, Stuart Skinner was there.
The Oilers goaltender made 40 saves to help lead the Oilers to the 4-2 win against the Panthers on Saturday evening.
Tyson Barrie scored a pair of goals, while Warren Foegele picked up the game-winner late in the third period.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins notched a empty-netter to seal the win, and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl both recorded an assist to push their point streaks to 10 and 11 games respectively. The 10-game point streak for McDavid is the eighth double-digit streak of his career.
The win pushed the Oilers record in Florida to 12-1 since 2002 -- their best mark against any team over that time period.
Edmonton heads back home after going 2-2 on their four game road trip. After a few days off, the Oilers are back in action at Rogers Place for a Wednesday night matchup against the Los Angeles Kings.

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FIRST BLOOD

It took until the final 8:11 of the second period for the red light to go off, and when it did, it was in the Oilers favour.
Head Coach Jay Woodcroft had been stressing to the team to keep their play simple, and there are few plays that are simpler than a slap shot from the point.
It was Tyson Barrie with the blast, rocketing a shot past Spencer Knight from the blueline to give the Oilers the first lead of the game. The goal was the defenceman's second of the season, coming off a feed from Ryan McLeod. Up until that point, the game had been a goaltending clinic with Stuart Skinner and Spencer Knight stopping 44 of 45 shots combined.

B-B-B-BARRIE BOMB

A goal so nice, Tyson decided to do it twice.
The Oilers defender scored a pair of goals for the Oilers on the evening, both in similar fashion. After opening the scoring for the Oilers, the defender gave Edmonton a 2-1 advantage in the third period by stepping in from the point and hammering another slap shot behind Knight while on the powerplay.

BAD NEWS BENNETT

With all the talk about Matthew Tkachuk coming into the evening, it was another former Flame who burned the Oilers. Sam Bennett was buzzing on the night, with six shots on Skinner in the game.
Skinner had made several high-quality stops against Bennett, turning aside a wrist shot from the circle after a turnover and kicking the pad out on a two-on-one in the first period alone.
With the Panthers on the powerplay, the former fourth-overall pick in 2014 made his fifth opportunity of the game count. After a point shot was blocked in front of the Oilers goaltender, the rebound rolled out to the right circle and in prime position for Bennett. The Panthers forward quickly hammered the shot by Skinner for his fourth of the season to tie the game 1-1.
Bennett would add a late tally for the two goal evening, but ultimately, the Oilers held on for the two points.

SUNRISE STU

The Oilers last line of defence was their best player on the evening. Skinner continued to bring a steady presence between the pipes for an Edmonton team looking to get better on the defensive side of the leger.
The Panthers kept up their reputation as a high volume shot team, with the Sunrise team entering the game as the league leader in shots-per-game at 40.1. Florida racked up an impressive 42 shots, but the Oilers defence was able to limit the second chance opportunities and Skinner was up to the task when they couldn't. The netminder made 40 stops on way to his third win of the season.

PARTING WORDS

Tyson Barrie on the Oilers win tonight:
"It was big. It was. Obviously we'd have like to get some more luck in Carolina and Washington, but it was nice to round up your trip with a win and go .500 on a pretty tough swing."
Barrie on the performance of Stuart Skinner:
"They came out hot and Skins was great. He made some big stops and some timely ones and kept us in it and gave us a chance to kind of get on our toes and push back a little bit. So Skins been good all year for us."
Barrie on his two slapshot goals:
"The first one all you do with the the one timer is you're trying to hit it. The second one you have a little bit of good draw and it kind of pops to you. So you want to take maybe a split second to kind of try to pick a spot. And I was lucky, they both went in."
Leon Draisaitl on Skinner keeping the team in the game:
"He was fantastic in first period, I mean, all game, but gave us a chance to find our legs. And big credit to Stewie. Sometimes you obviously need that. We needed it tonight, but after that I thought we played a solid game."
Draisaitl on the team's performance in front of the goalies:
"I don't think we've necessarily given our goalies our best games yet as a team in front of them. Tonight, we didn't in the first period. After that, I thought we did. We did play a solid game. We got to help these two guys out, including Soup. Every time he's in there, it feels like we lay an absolute egg. So we got to be a little better for them."

Stuart Skinner on holding down the fort for the first 10 minutes:"
"Oviously they came out flyinh. I mean, they're a great team and they had some pushes throughout the game. I thought we did a great job defensively. I thought we did a good job getting the pucks out and had some big blocked shots. But yeah, the first ten minutes we kind of got going and then after that were solid."
Skinner on if he's exceeded his expectations:
"It's a tough question. I don't know if I had too many expectations. I just kind of try to be the best that I can be every day and try to keep on growing my game every day, trying to keep getting better. The guys have been doing a heck of a job helping me get better every day and I think just coming in, just trying to be who I am."
Head Coach Jay Woodcroft on the early performance of Stuart Skinner:
"I thought it was a goaltenders duel early in the game, Stuart held the fort for us. I went back and looked at a lot of the shots, they weren't necessarily chances, but psychologically when you look up at the score clock and it's 8-0 in shots or whatnot, it's just to know that Stuart stood tall for us in that first period allowed us to get our sea legs."
Woodcroft on the play of Mattias Janmark and Klim Kostin on the night:
"The guy has played in the NHL for a long time. The way things worked out during training camp probably didn't go the way he wanted. I thought he went down to Bakersfield with the right attitude, the right mindset, and when he went down there, he played hard and that's why he got called up. And that's what we're all about. When we recall people, we have to make sure that they're playing well. Because if you don't recall the right people, I think that affects things in an organization and for both Matthias and for Klim. Klim has got to feel really good about his opportunity as well. He looked like an NHL player today. Big body, went to the front of the net on the first call."