Misfortune seems to follow the Edmonton Oilers around like a shadow this season. As the Oilers head to the Sunshine State for the next stage of their road stint, they are carrying the weight of two disappointing losses handed to them by the Buffalo Sabres and, most recently, by the Washington Capitals at the Capital One Arena.
The Capitals were languishing at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division not too long ago. However, after two victories at home and another broken record by Alex Ovechkin, the team has climbed up the rankings. The Oilers, on the other hand, remain a no-show, with the community resounding with scathing criticism of the team’s goaltending and defense situation.
Kris Knoblauch Refuses to Attribute Edmonton Oilers’ Woes to Stuart Skinner’s Performance
Kris Knoblauch is facing the heat for reverting to his old tendencies of over-relying on Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to salvage the game. In the showdown against the Capitals, McDavid and Draisaitl spent more than 23 minutes skating. Yet, despite their Herculean efforts, the team fell short as the Capitals emerged victorious on home ice 7-4.
As soon as the day was decided, disgruntled Oilers fans were quick to bring back their same old appeal of dismissing Stuart Skinner. The goalie’s save percentage was a disappointing .737, as he made 14 saves against Washington. With Skinner approaching free agency, many fans hope that Stan Bowman is not rushing to re-sign him. However, at a post-game media availability, Knoblauch came forward in the netminder’s defense.
The Oilers coach believes that Skinner is far from the sole person responsible for every game Edmonton loses. “Just the commitment to protecting the dangerous ice. You look at the first goal against, we got a lot of guys out of position on that, and we get beat to the dangerous ice, and yeah, we don’t give Stu much help,” Knoblauch said, echoing Elliotte Friedman’s views that while the Oilers’ goaltending is bad, the defense corps continuously falls short too.
“And you look at these nights where Stu’s given up a lot of goals, and you’re thinking, you know, it’s on goaltending, but we’re not making the game easy for him,” the coach explained, hinting that the defense personnel is not doing as much as they should be.
Despite the Oilers’ never-ending struggles so far this season, Knoblauch appreciated the team for its energy. “You know, for a team that’s, you know, not happy with the way they’re playing and feeling very discouraged, you know, I like the energy,” Knoblauch said. The Oilers coach also added that despite it all, the team has shown exceptional resilience.
All said and done, the team needs to act quickly if it wants to secure its chances of making the playoffs and retain its captain, McDavid, whose contract extension with the Oilers is essentially a ticking time bomb.
