The Stars and Oilers have had splendid seasons, and Oilers now have a great chance at the Cup this season; some people may wonder. Is it their defense, their offense? Or could it be the man with the pads between the posts? Are they the reason why their teams made it so far into the playoffs?
Comparing the goalies. Jake Oettinger- the Stars goalie – is a very good goaltender. He always puts on a show when he’s in net, always making the right saves, and he’s obtained a 9.14 save percentage this season.
On the other hand, Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner is the polar opposite. He is very unpredictable when he’s in the net; he will either let in a bad goal or pull a crazy save out of his back pocket. Skinner also averages a below average 8.96 save percentage. This is why back-up goalie Calvin Pickard stepped in for Skinner in the Golden Knights series, Skinner wasn’t making the right saves so Pickard took his place.
For reference, a good save percentage is 9.00, but an elite save percentage is anything from 9.20 and above. That means that Skinner saved 89% of his shots and Jake saved 91% of the shots this season.
Also, Skinner averages 2.85 goals against, while Oettinger averages 2.57 goals against this season- that’s not a huge difference, and their save percentages are only 2 percent off. Some would say that there is nothing different about them at all, but it’s obvious who’s better when watching them.
Skinner was good at one point. In the 2022-2023 regular season Skinner had acquired a 9.14 save percentage, but after that season he hasn’t been able to get close to it. People say he’s a bad goalie, but calling someone bad at the highest level is kind of ironic.
Continuing, the average amount of shots a goalie faces per-game is 30-31. The average amount of games a goalie plays is 65 regular season games, a back-up goalie will play 20 games.
Jake Oettinger and Stuart Skinner are no back-up goalies, if Oettinger and Skinner played the 65 games and faced up to 30 shots a game, that would mean they’ve faced around 1860 shots in a single season.
Now 91 percent of 1860 would be around 1700 saves for Oettinger. For Skinner 89 percent of 1860 means he would have saved 1655 shots. This means in one season combined they would have let in around 150-250 goals
People might think that’s pretty bad because of how big the number is, but it’s actually quite impressive. The amount of shots a season versus how much actually went in. You have to be outstanding at your job to achieve that kind of save percentage and only allow about 150 goals per season.
Also, the math is not exact because trying to find out the exact number of shots they both took each game is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. This would mean that the amount of goals they let in is definitely lower.
In conclusion, Skinner isn’t a bad goalie, he has had his moments proving his place in the NHL, and while others may disagree, the Oilers need him. Although he’s good, I don’t believe Skinner is the real reason why the Oilers are in the finals currently.
To answer the question from the beginning, I think that the Oilers wouldn’t be in the playoffs without McDavid. The Oilers aren’t a bad team, and it’s not just McDavid carrying the team on his back. It’s just that they wouldn’t have much of a chance against any team if McDavid wasn’t out there finding the back of the net.
He’s also been chasing a Cup ever since he was admitted into the NHL, and it’s kind of unfair that a player with his grind-set hasn’t gotten a Cup yet. His highlights are next level, and he has no signs of slowing down, but there are rumors that he might retire soon, and the hockey world wants to see him with a Cup in his hands.
