'Watching How Carolina Played Was Super Helpful': How One 2023-24 Loss Helped Stuart Skinner And The Oilers Turn Things Around
The Oilers' goalie was candid about how the Oilers bounced back from rock bottom last season.
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports - 'Watching How Carolina Played Was Super Helpful': How One 2023-24 Loss Helped Stuart Skinner And The Oilers Turn Things AroundThe Oilers have been here before.
This season's slow start has drawn many comparisons to last season's even slower start. Famously 2-9-1 on November 10th, the Oilers managed to save their season and ride a blistering hot streak all the way to within one goal of the Stanley Cup.
But while 2-9-1 represented rock bottom, the team's turnaround didn't really start until later in November. According to goaltender Stuart Skinner, it was a beatdown loss in Carolina on November 22nd that laid the foundation for the Oilers' remarkable comeback.
"All the way up to that Carolina game, it was pretty tough for everybody in the locker room," Skinner told reporters after practice on Tuesday.
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The Oilers came into Raleigh that night with a 5-11-1 record, still wallowing in the league's cellar. They were 2-2 under new head coach Kris Knoblauch, having lost two straight in Tampa Bay and Florida. That Tampa-Florida-Carolina gauntlet was Knoblauch's first big test as a coach, one of the toughest three-game stretches you can play in today's NHL.
The Hurricanes came out swinging, scoring four goals in just under six minutes in the middle of the second period, chasing Skinner from the game. A couple of Zach Hyman goals couldn't make up the deficit, and the Oilers lost 6-3, falling to 5-12-1.
"I remember getting pulled after the first period," Skinner reminisced ahead of Tuesday's game against Carolina. "I remember in warmup I tripped and like, went all the way to the other side of the ice and bumped into some Carolina players."
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"You're just kind of shaking your head after that," Skinner continued, "but after that, as a team, we spoke on the way we needed to end up playing and to be honest, watching how Carolina played was super helpful, because they just kept the puck in our end the entire time."
That discussion must have worked, because the Oilers proceeded to rip off eight consecutive wins, eventually winning 28 out of their next 34 games.
Skinner was particularly excellent during that stretch, posting a save percentage of .924 and saving 14.5 goals above average (per Hockey Reference).
"We had a really good talk as a team, and just built off that," Skinner said. "And then that's where you saw us have a little more belief in each other."
They got their chance to avenge the loss to Carolina just two weeks later and didn't miss it. They walloped the Hurricanes 6-1 at home on December 6th, with Skinner making 38 saves on 39 shots.
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"And then, you know, the rest is history," Skinner finished with a smile.
The Oilers face off with the Hurricanes for the first time since December 6th tonight, at 7PM MT.
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