EDMONTON, Alberta — It took a while for Stuart Skinner to confront the anguish of losing Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season.
“Definitely. Internally, there was something buried. That’s kind of an easy way to do it, instead of thinking about it and trying to process it. I stuffed it down,” Skinner recalled. “I normally open up the wound pretty quickly, but it took me a little while into the summer. It bit me in the butt halfway through.”
Now that he has tackled that pain, the experiences that devastated Skinner last season have put him in a position to potentially lift the Stanley Cup this season.
“I feel completely different. I think everybody in our room feels different. Because we’ve already done it,” he said before their Stanley Cup Final rematch against the Florida Panthers. “We’ve already gone through it. And to be honest, we’ve gone through the worst-case scenario: losing Game 7.”
Skinner, 26, is in his fifth NHL season, all of them with the Edmonton Oilers, who drafted him 78th overall in 2017. Before he was an Oilers goalie, he was an Oilers fan: The Edmonton native remembers sitting in the stands chanting “NUUUUUUUGE!” for forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, his favorite player growing up — and with whom he now shares a dressing room.
“It’s pretty amazing. He was obviously my favorite player growing up and being able to play with him has been one of the coolest things,” Skinner said.
And so the Game 7 loss to the Panthers last season was crushing on several levels. The Oilers rallied from a 3-0 series deficit to force a seventh game, only to lose 2-1 and with it the chance to raise the Stanley Cup. Captain Connor McDavid broke down crying in the dressing room after the game. Skinner’s tears started before the postseries handshake line.
It wasn’t just squandering a chance at living a childhood dream and winning the Stanley Cup as an Oiler. Skinner believed he had, in a way, let his country down, one that has been waiting to see another Canadian team skate the Cup since Montreal won it in 1993.
“It’s a little bit tougher because it’s a Canadian market. All of Canada’s watching you. All of Canada’s disappointed in you,” he said.
Skinner buried all of this for as long as he could. He told his wife, Chloe, that he was “totally fine,” to which she responded, “I don’t think you are.” Skinner said she was instrumental in helping him “open the wound” and deal with that anguish. He talked to her, friends, teammates and coaches about the devastation he felt.
“I got a lot of people in my corner where I’m able to ‘word vomit’ a bit, let all the emotion out,” he said.
He journaled. A lot. It’s something Skinner has done since he was 18 to “calm the mind down” and be as present as he can.
“I think that’s kind of my main goal through all this. I think last year, with all the emotions, you can sometimes get away from the present moment,” he said. “There are just little tools that can really help you.”
Then, he tore open the wound a few weeks before the 2024-25 season: Skinner finally watched Game 7.
“I’m not too sure why. Maybe for a little motivation. Maybe to get the emotions out of it,” he said.
He watched the two goals he surrendered. He thought about the handshake line, when he congratulated his adversary, Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, despite being an emotional wreck in the moment.
“That’s hard to do, obviously, when you’re in the midst of being crushed and in the midst of crying. So yeah, in a moment like that, you got to be a man about it and be kind to everybody,” Skinner said. “I mean, it’s one of their best days of their lives, so I’m not going to have my own little pity party with them.”
Bobrovsky remembers that interaction, too.
“I tried to support him, obviously. I said that he’s played great. He gave it all. It was a good fight. It was a good battle,” the Panthers goalie said.
Skinner finished rewatching Game 7, and that was it. “Now, it’s in the past,” he said.
This is what Stuart Skinner does. Adversity comes. He processes it, turns its energy into a positive force for personal growth.
“A lifetime of hardships, a lifetime of moments of success. All the things you experience and you think it’s the end of the world. You get a choice to make in that moment: to either get up or to give up,” Skinner said. “I’ve always had the true belief that if you just never, ever give up, that you’ll be able to do it. And I believe that for anybody.”
IT’S NOT EASY being Stuart Skinner in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
“Yeah, he’s had some ups and downs. I think people focus probably more on the downs and the ups,” Oilers GM Stan Bowman said.
Skinner became the starter in 2022-23, giving up at least three goals in six of his 12 appearances as Edmonton bowed out in the second round to the Vegas Golden Knights.
The next season established the roller coaster status bestowed on Skinner’s playoff runs. He was benched in the second round against the Vancouver Canucks after giving up four goals on 15 shots in their Game 3 loss. Calvin Pickard played the next two games of the series, going 1-1. With the Oilers facing elimination, Skinner took the crease back and gave up just one goal in their Game 6 win, and two goals in their Game 7 victory.
Maligned as he was, Skinner did everything the Oilers asked of him for the next two rounds, limiting the Dallas Stars to just one goal in each of the last two games of that series and then giving up two or fewer goals in the last four games of the Stanley Cup Final loss to Florida.
To that end, the 2025 postseason has been vintage Skinner. He lost the first two games in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings, giving up 11 total goals and losing his crease again to Pickard, who went 6-0 until an injury brought Skinner back to the starter’s role in their Game 3 loss to Vegas.
“We’re after the same goal. Obviously, he would like to be in the net. It was his job to support me, and right now, it’s my job to support him,” Pickard said before the Final.
Since Game 4 against the Golden Knights, Skinner has been the best goaltender in the playoffs: 7-1, with a .938 save percentage and a 1.54 goals-against average, his benching as much a distant memory as it was last postseason.
“It’s kind of the story of the Oilers. We get knocked down, we just keep on getting back up, right? You’ve seen that in all the playoffs this year, as individuals and as a team,” Skinner said.
0:28
Stuart Skinner makes an unbelievable diving save
Stuart Skinner makes a beautiful stick save to keep the game tied 2-2 for the Oilers vs. the Golden Knights.
Opposing fans and media have been rather unfeeling toward Skinner’s adversity. Road arenas echo with chants of “SKIN-NER!” even when he’s playing well. Los Angeles fans went as far as to chant “WE WANT SKINNER!” while he sat on the bench after being pulled. On a Stanley Cup contender with all-world talents on the roster, he’s seen as its Achilles heel at worst, and “the guy whose job it is not to lose the series” at best.
Defector’s Ray Ratto recently penned a column titled “Oh God, Stuart Skinner Controls The Oilers’ Destiny,” writing: “As the Oilers’ goaltender he has defined both the glories and horrors of being an Oil fan, because there is never a guarantee of what level of quality he will provide.”
As one would expect, Skinner’s teammates uniformly defend his play when confronted with that criticism. Many note that being a goaltender attracts more scrutiny and denouncement.
“Being a goalie in this league, being a starting goalie in Canada, it’s a pretty serious gig,” Pickard said.
“It’s the toughest position in sports, with the attention that they get. You look up and down the lineup, everyone makes mistakes. When the goalie does, then everyone pays attention,” Bowman said.
“It’s got to be one of the most pressure-packed positions in all of sports,” Oilers center Adam Henrique said. “Obviously, the media is a big aspect of it, too. In this market, there’s so much that goes into it. I think he does a great job of dealing with all that and adjusting and doing what he needs to do to be able to be himself.”
But beyond sympathy for the position he plays and defending his postseason performances, Skinner’s teammates also believe the highs and lows of his playoff runs are inspiring.
“That’s the best thing about hockey: You could be at the top of the world one day and you can be at the bottom of the mountain the next, trying to get back to the top,” defenseman Ty Emberson said.
“I think you just have to give him a lot of credit for his mental fortitude. You get pulled from a game, not be able to win a game and then come back and be the best goalie in the world,” Emberson said. “That’s something I’ve been telling [Skinner] over the last couple of weeks: ‘I think you’re the best goalie in the world.'”
HENRIQUE IS IN his 15th NHL season. Where does Stuart Skinner rank on his weird goalie meter?
“I wouldn’t say that high. He’s not a super weird guy, so I would say he’d be in the middle of ‘crazy, wacky goalie’ to ‘completely normal guy.’ Somewhere in the middle,” Henrique said. “I love that guy. To get to know him and see how he deals with pressure, he does a great job of the mental aspect of everything.”
It might surprise some that a goalie who has produced such chaotic swings during the playoffs is considered a calming influence among his teammates.
“It’s never too hectic with him,” Pickard said. “You’re going to play a lot of games over the course of the season. There’s going to be a lot of ups and downs, and he’s very even keel, and that’s a major attribute.”
Bowman said Skinner has “good demeanor” for a goalie. “I think you have to have that ability to shrug things off, and his ability to deal with that adversity has been impressive,” the GM said.
In Game 1 against the Panthers on Wednesday, adversity hit when Florida took a 3-1 lead in the second period. The Panthers were pushing hard to extend that lead, with a 30-16 shot-attempt advantage at 5-on-5 in the period. Ironically, that’s when Skinner’s mind was in its most serene state.
“Honestly, it quiets everything down because you’re doing so much work. In that moment, I’m actually doing the least amount of thinking,” he said. “Where I find I start thinking a lot is in the third period when I only get two shots and I’m kind of just waiting for it.”
When the Oilers cranked up their team defense in the third period, as they have for the past two rounds of the playoffs, Skinner said he does breathing exercises to get his heart rate up and his adrenaline pumping a bit more while not facing the same kind of barrage.
“You’re kind of almost anxious for [the puck] to come your way,” he said, “and obviously there’s a lot of thoughts of just like, ‘I really hope we score.'”
The Oilers rallied to tie the score and then scored near the end of the first overtime to take a 1-0 series lead, as McDavid found Leon Draisaitl for the game winner, which is something Skinner has seen more than a few times with the Oilers.
“I definitely do have the best seat in the house,” Skinner said after the game. “It’s a special moment. It’s excitement, it’s relief, it’s a lot of emotions coming up, a lot of pride coming up. You’re able to fight for a long, long time the whole game, and then you’re able to win.”
1:39
P.K. Subban: Edmonton’s depth will be key to success
P.K. Subban joins “Get Up” and analyzes how the Edmonton Oilers’ depth on the ice can take them to a 2-0 series lead vs. the Florida Panthers.
McDavid had talked about how the Stanley Cup Final felt different this time. “It’s different in the sense that it feels less big, you know? Last year felt monumental. Very dramatic. This year feels very normal,” he said. “It’s easier to play and function when it’s just another day.”
Skinner feels the same way. “Last year, it’s your first time doing it. That can bring a lot of excitement, obviously a lot of energy,” he said. “I’m really grateful for that experience that I got last year because this year I feel the complete opposite.”
He said he gets rest between games, which was a challenge last season due to a lack of sleep. He said his sense of awe has dissipated year over year, too. Skinner remembered feeling overwhelmed when the Stanley Cup was presented on the ice before the first game last year. On Wednesday, when the Cup made its cameo, Skinner said he felt completely different.
“When I saw the Cup on the ice last year, I was kind of looking at it with googly eyes,” he said. “This year, I saw it already. So now it’s time to get back to work. It felt completely different emotionally.”
Skinner said he has visualized lifting the Stanley Cup and experiencing all of that joy that Game 7 kept from him last season.
“I’ve done all the manifestation tricks,” he said.
He has also imagined things not working out so well.
“You might think I’m a little wild, but I visualize both parts. I visualize being able to win and I visualize losing again,” he said. “You got to prepare for everything. There are so many things that can kind of happen.”
Stuart Skinner should know. He has experienced it all in the Stanley Cup playoffs, save for one thing: winning his last game.
