Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner locked it down in January.
Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner locked it down in January.
EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Oilers pulled off an incredible month of January to kick off 2024. They won all 11 games they played during the month. They never allowed more than two goals in a game.
The team played fantastic defense - the first two games were the only ones where their opponents registered 30 shots or more. The Philadelphia Flyers fired 37 shots while the Ottawa Senators managed to get 30 shots on net.
With that being said, limiting shots means nothing if you can't buy a save. But it looks like someone was putting money in the bank because now the team is getting every possible save they need (and want).
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Calvin Pickard and Stuart Skinner have been excellent. With Skinner being the starting goalie, it's tough to overlook what he was able to accomplish. The NHL didn't, because they made him the second star for the month of January.
Skinner had a perfect 9-0-0 record to go along with a 1.33 goals against average (GAA) and a .953 save percentage (SV%). According to Evolving Hockey, the goalie with the highest goals saved above expected for January was - Skinner. He had a 15.82 goals saved above expected (GSAx).
He was one of three goalies to register more than 10 GSAx. The other two were Jordan Binnington and Jacob Markstrom.
The most impressive thing about Skinner's accomplishment was that he was able to move past an Oilers legend in the record books. His nine wins in January extended his record breaking streak to 12 consecutive wins in a row - Grant Fuhr's record was 10.
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Now we'll have to wait until after the All-Star break to see just how high Skinner can fly.
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