Oilers Humiliate Skinner In Revenge Game, Celebrate Milestone Right in His Face
This debut is not what Skinner or the Pens would've wanted
Tuesday night's NHL slate featured an interesting matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Edmonton Oilers, as it came just days after the two teams cut a trade that included a goaltender swap.
Stuart Skinner — who had become the whipping boy at times in Edmonton — is now a Penguin, while former Pens backstopper Tristan Jarry gets to spend his free time checking out the West Edmonton Mall.
Before the game, I wrote that this was an opportunity for Skinner, who was making his Penguins debut, to throw down an all-time revenge game.
I stand by that, but holy hell is that not how it panned out.
One highlight was that we were given the wonderful sight of two goalies wearing the opposite masks of the teams they're currently playing for.
Once the game got started, it was not a fun night for Mr. Skinner. He faced just 22 shots on the evening and let five — FIVE — past him, which equates to a save percentage of just .773, in the 6-4 loss to his old team.
Ouch.
But, if you can believe this, it got worse.
Oilers star Leon Draisaitl came into this one on the cusp of his 1,000th career point. He exploded for four assists, and that meant that his 1,000th point came at the expense of his old buddy Stuart Skinner.
And, if that wasn't bad enough, look at where the Oilers — Skinner's teammates just a few days ago — decided to celebrate the moment.
That's right, they celebrated right under Skinner's nose. How awkward is that?
Jarry had a better night at the other end of the ice, stopping 26 of 30 shots for an .867 save percentage, which still isn't stellar, but it got the job done.
Sure, this is a small sample size when it comes to this trade, but the early returns aren't going to have champagne bottles popping in either front office as both teams continue to battle on the fringes of the playoff spots in their respective conferences.