Edmonton Oilers’ playoff hopes face a crisis as Stuart Skinner’s volatile goaltending hits a breaking point. Can Stan Bowman salvage the season with a bold trade, or will the defensive woes and team mentality doom Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl’s quest for the Cup?
Nick Zararis tackles Edmonton’s collapse against the Dallas Stars, examining the team’s lack of credibility, leadership under Kris Knoblauch, and stagnant offensive systems. Hot topics include Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm’s struggles, the search for goaltending answers, and the psychological impact on a roster built for success but mired in mediocrity. Is time running out for the Oilers to restore confidence and ignite a winning streak—or will another season slip through their fingers?
06:19 Oilers’ Credibility Strugglesกับ Goalie
08:57 Goaltending, Finances, and Accountability
13:43 Oilers’ Struggles: Reactive Defense
17:09 Oilers’ Spacing and Effort Problem
22:11 “Fragile Oilers Party Dynamics”
26:02 “Oilers’ Struggles with Offense”
28:26 “Locked On Oilers Podcast”
DONE: Skinner Benched Edmonton Oilers SHAKE-UP Looms as Stuart Skinner’s Starting Role COLLAPSES
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16 Comments
We’re amazing! There’s hope! We suck ass! There’s no hope! Skinner/Pickard showed flashes of brilliance! Skinner/Pickard are unplayable!
This team…
But is the effort by the guys in front of Skinner due to their lack of confidence in Skinner? If you, as an Oilers player, know Skinner is gonna let in 4 goals on 8 shots, what kind of effort are you gonna put forth?
Hopefully, if Skinner does get traded, Samuel Jonsson and Connor Ungar are both left alone for good.
MOST OF THE TEAM SUCKS, AND THE GOALIES HAVE A COLLECTIVE .860 SAVE PERCENTAGE FOR THE SEASON.. PATHETIC.
They did great in front of Florida. Just as Skinner got cast out tonight the Panthers experienced goalie got sent out like rubbing shit off your shoe. Everyone was not playing in front of Stu. What are they eating and drinking before the game. There was a few bad calls against the Oilers but Nick saying they played like chickens with their heads cut off was the perfect definition of our Oilers tonight 😢
I couldn’t believe Pics let 4 Goals by too! Usually the Goalie called out to replace the other gets excited and plays well WTF!🧐
Again I agree with you Nick this one you can’t blame this on Skinner because the next 2 periods Oilers were even worse! Team effort to tank!
Before you start roasting Skinner or Pickard, be objective. The goalies are giving this team more than the entire Oilers D-core right now. Every goal against starts with a lost battle or a gift from our own blue line. Tonight’s “scorers” for Dallas: 1–Bouchard, 2–Bouchard, 3–Kulak, 4–Ekholm/Bouchard, 5–Bouchard, 6–Bouchard, 8–Draisaitl. If you can’t see the real problem, you’re not analyzing hockey — you’re just blaming the easiest target.
STOP YOUR DAMN BULLSHIT EXCUSES. BOTH GOALIES AND THE COACH NEED TO BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY.
GOALIE IS SUPPOSE TO BAIL OUT THE DEFENSE YOU IDIOT.
Skinner getting the win over the Panthers created a false hope. Now they wait until Saturday against Seattle. Any roster moves? Coach getting fired, perhaps? Changes are a must. This cannot continue. The Oilers are looking so ugly.
Look, it's a team loss, not a player loss. It's easy to blame the goalie or coach but the fact remains the whole team is out of sync. They need to score the first goal. I have said it so many times, scoring the first goal is always a benefit. They may not win every game when scoring first but they must. They scored first against the Panthers and won. Any surprise? None. In the Cup Final last year (2025), the Panthers scored first in 5 of the 6 games. It's hard to win when you don't score first.
Just tell Skinner to go home and never return. He has no trade value whatsoever.
I actually think McDavid and Draisaitl just gave up after 4 goals. What is the phrase, lead by example.. I guess they did.
Skinner has always played this way, very inconsistent. How can amy team plan strategize around that.
Is the season over for the oilers and we as oilers fans we better start looking fof next year