The Edmonton Oilers were able to wrestle victory away from the jaws of defeat on Sunday night against the Los Angeles Kings, coming back from 0-3 and 3-4 deficits thanks to the game-tying tally from Evander Kane and subsequent overtime winner from Zach Hyman. The series is now a best-of-3, with Game 5 heading back to Rogers Place in Edmonton later tonight..
Earlier this afternoon, the Oilers announced that they’ll be going right back to goaltender Stuart Skinner between the pipes, despite his having been pulled in Game 4 in favor of Jack Campbell.
“Stuart’s been our starting goaltender here the second half of the year, he’s played great and we expect a great game out of him today,” head coach Jay Woodcroft said.
“I start with the basis of understanding that we have two really good goaltenders, and that’s a luxury for a head coach to have,” he continued. “In the end, it’s the head coach’s decision.”
Skinner was sure to give a tip of the cap to Campbell for helping earn the victory in Game 4.
“He went in there cold, and I apologized to Jack for doing that to him,” said Skinner of Campbell. “You never get put into a great spot when you go in cold. He did a great job.”
“Unbelievable. He was stellar,” Skinner continued. “He made a huge, huge breakaway save (on Viktor Arvidsson with 5:46 to play), and after that we ended up scoring (to tie the game), and won it in overtime. You could say that stop won us the game.”
Skinner will be looking to improve his postseason numbers, which include a 1-2 record combined with a pedestrian 3.39 goals against average and .881 save percentage. Tonight’s Game 5 will begin at 9:30 PM EST.
