The Edmonton Oilers played a game they can be proud of on Friday. Starting off strong and continuing to apply the pressure for all 60 minutes, there were few, if any instances where the Pittsburgh Penguins tilted the ice. This win serves as a reminder to the Oilers of the style of play needed for success—something they had strayed from previously. But, not everything was perfect.
The Good: Stuart Skinner Was Incredible Again, and Arvidsson Broke Out
Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner delivered a stellar performance Friday night, stopping all 27 shots he faced. The shutout marked Skinner’s fifth career shutout, a boost for him and the Oilers as they look for consistency in net. Skinner acknowledged the effort afterward, stating, “We got the results that we wanted tonight. Still a couple areas that we can probably clean up, but again definitely the way we wanted to play start to finish.”
Despite a rocky start to the season, Skinner has rebounded with a solid .915 save percentage and a 2.38 goals-against average across his last five starts. Analyst Jason Gregor highlighted how small sample sizes can skew season stats, pointing out that Skinner’s season opener against Winnipeg, where both he and the Oilers struggled, left him with an overall .890 save percentage and a 3.06 GAA. Since then, he’s been much better and he was brilliant against the Carolina Hurricanes and good again versus the Penguins.
In Friday’s game, Skinner faced limited action in the opening period with only five shots on goal, but he stayed locked in and focused, even observing Pittsburgh rookie goalie Joel Blomqvist on the opposite end. Skinner’s strong showing was pivotal for the Oilers. Also great was Viktor Arvidsson. With three assists in the game, he was all over the ice, causing chaos in a great way for Edmonton and getting in on the offense. He’s yet to score a goal, but this is the kind of game that will open the floodgates.
The Bad: Zach Hyman Still Hasn’t Scored
The Oilers were trying their damndest to get Zach Hyman a goal. Leon Draisaitl even gave up a good scoring chance to give Hyman the puck while the latter was covered in the hopes something would bounce off of him and go in. Hyman was solid with six shots on nets and plenty of chances to get one, but pucks that used to go in aren’t right now. It’s got to be frustrating that Hyman is in the top 50 in shots in the NHL this season but he’s yet to score. Only Dylan Cozens, Roman Josi, and Morgan Frost have taken more shots and have a goose egg on the season.
The Ugly: The Oilers Had No Finish For 30 Minutes
It took the Oilers until the 13-minute mark of the second period to finally get a goal past Blomqvist. The Penguins’ goalie was outstanding, but to pepper essentially a rookie with over 25 shots before scoring speaks as much to the Oilers’ lack of finish as it does to how good Blomqvist was. That’s the kind of scenario where if the Penguins score first, it takes all of the wind out of the sails of the Oilers. This team has too many elite scorers and offensive threats to not cash in when it counts.
