The broadcast crew revealed the secret behind Stuart Skinner's in-season turnaround this past year.
The broadcast crew revealed the secret behind Stuart Skinner's in-season turnaround this past year.
EDMONTON -- Goaltending and special teams are key to playoff success.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw0dfx0CkzY[/embed]
Last night, the Edmonton Oilers got both in their dramatic 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars. Connor McDavid scored the game winning goal 32 seconds into the second extra frame while Stuart Skinner stood tall - stopping 31 of 33 shots to earn his eighth win of the post season.
Fortunately for the Oilers the 25-year-old goalie has turned his game around this season. To begin 2023-24 he was off to a rough start - particularly in November.
The Sportsnet broadcast team talked about Skinner's turnaround and revealed what was at the heart of it. One Oilers' fan posted a clip to Twitter.
Skinner enlisted in the help of Adam Francilia to help him get his game back on track. According to the broadcast team - Francilia helped Skinner with, "they reformulated his stance [and] corrected some imbalances in how he was positioned."
Francilia should be a name that some people recognize. He has been helping NHL goalies for many years now - most notably Thatcher Demko, Connor Hellebuyck and even Mike Smith.
Francilia is a former San Jose Sharks goalie consultant and development coach for the San Jose Barricuda. He has a unique philosophy on goaltending - primarily that he sees goaltending as another form of martial arts.
His focus on biomechanics has clearly helped Skinner substantially. In his first 16 games of the regular season he had a 7-7-1 record with a 3.31 goals against average (GAA) and a .876 save percentage (SV%). Skinner rebounded massively in his next 13 game stretch - going 11-2 and posting a 1.85 GAA and a .932 SV%.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuvTW91-9vs[/embed]
So far in the post season things have been up and down for Skinner - but since the Oilers went back to him after giving Calvin Pickard two starts, he's been lights out.
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