Stuart Skinner played a full 60 on Sunday night.
Yes, the Edmonton Oilers goalie was on the ice the entire game for his team's 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars Sunday in Game 6 to win the Western Conference and earn a spot in the Stanley Cup final.
- Complete coverage of the Edmonton Oilers' Stanley Cup Playoffs run
And he was on duty stopping Stars shots and breaking up chances from beginning to end.
"It was a hard-fought battle," Skinner told media following the game.
- IN PICTURES: Oilers going to Stanley Cup finals
"You knew Dallas was going to come out. They gave us a hard time every single game. Looking back on all the scores, everything was tight, everything was close."
He made several saves at key moments, keeping the pressing Dallas Stars at bay and giving his team a chance to at least clear the puck out of their zone.
Good thing, too, as the Oilers managed just 10 shots on Stars netminder Jake Oettinger all game.
On the other end, the Stars peppered Skinner with 35, just one of them getting by the 25-year-old Edmonton native partway through the third period.
Oilers star Connor McDavid called the netminder's performance on Sunday "unbelievable."
“We’re not sitting up here talking about a win if it was not for him," McDavid told media following the game.
"We’re on a plane to Dallas (for Game 7) if it wasn’t for Stu."
Both of Edmonton's goals came in the first period on the power play courtesy McDavid and Zach Hyman, accounting for two of their three shots in the opening 20 minutes.
And while Edmonton managed five shots to Dallas's nine in the second, the Stars pressed even harder in the third, pouring 14 shots on Skinner while holding the Oilers to two.
No matter.
While his teammates did yeomen's work blocking pucks — Oilers players got their shins and skates in the way of 19 of them while getting sticks in to break up chances in front of the net — and keeping the Stars to the outside on shots, Skinner saved their hides several times, including:
- Stopping forward Joe Pavelski point-blank after the Stars forward corrals the puck for a clear shot at 10:20 into the first period.
- Stuffing both Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz while the Oilers killed a penalty to Brett Kulak late in the opening frame.
- Stopping defenceman Miro Heiskanen's point shot and a Tyler Seguin rebound chance off it 6:17 into the second.
- Closing the five-hole on a partially screened shot in close by winger Logan Stankoven four minutes later.
- Again closing his pads on a clear shot by Robertson in close and giving up no rebound with 2:10 left in the third period.
"He’s gone through lots," McDavid said.
"He’s still such a young goalie, but he’s gone through so much. A lot of people doubt him, a lot of people don’t say the nicest things about him, but he is an elite goaltender in this league. He showed that tonight, he showed that over the course of the year and the playoffs.
"He loves proving people wrong and he certainly did that.”
