'Steady' Stu: Skinner starts 5th straight as Oilers look for tie-breaker in Minnesota

He came into the season as a backup, the understudy to a high-priced free agent, but Edmonton-born Stuart Skinner has clearly grabbed the top goaltender job for the Oilers.

The former South Side Athletic Club AAA bantam will get his fifth-straight start for Edmonton Monday night in Minnesota.

"Steady, steady, especially for a young guy, that's hard to do. He's played a lot of late, just giving us a chance to win every night and he's playing awesome. So, it's fun to watch," Zach Hyman said of the 24-year-old rookie.

The Oilers are looking to snatch back-to-back victories from the Wild, the third meeting in 12 days.

After goalie Jack Campbell and the Oilers lost in Minnesota 5-3 on Dec. 1, Skinner stopped 42 of 44 against the Wild Friday night in a 5-2 victory at Rogers Place.

Skinner has played 16 games and Campbell has played 13. The rookie has much better individual stats than the 30-year-old veteran. Still, the team's head coach is not putting labels on either player.

"I think we have two really good goalies that both give us a chance to win. Their records would dictate that. And we're excited, we think Stuart is gonna help us win the game tonight," Woodcroft said Monday.

"What I know is that Jack Campbell has put in a ton of work. He's used this little time since his last game as almost a personal reset for him, his game. He's really worked at it. So, he'll get in there soon."

'A BIG RELIEF'

Friday's win was an important one for Edmonton as the Oilers snapped a seven–game losing streak to Minnesota.

Winger Kailer Yamamoto also has a breakthrough, scoring his first goal of the season.

"It felt really good. Anytime you can get the first one out of the way it's a big relief. But it's just one. I'm expecting a lot more out of me so I gotta do that, a lot more games than that," Yamamoto told reporters.

Yamamoto now has three points in his last two games. He had just three in 14 games prior and was injured for nearly a month. He said beating Minnesota again will not be easy.

"We needed that one. They gave it to us, for sure last year, and even this year. So we needed that one…It's gonna be another hard, heavy matchup so we gotta bring our best game," he said.

Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are expected to play together on the top line with Hyman. McDavid has 19 points and Draisaitl has 15 since being paired together eight games ago.

The puck drops in Minnesota shortly after 6 p.m. MT.

Oilers in Minnesota:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Hyman
Janmark-RNH-Yamamoto
Holloway-Hamblin-Puljujarvi
Kostin-Shore-Ryan
Malone

Nurse-Ceci
Kulak-Barrie
Broberg-Bouchard
Murray

Skinner
Campbell

— Bob Stauffer (@Bob_Stauffer) December 12, 2022