Musings: Penguins’ New Goalie Thrown Into Familiar Fire

Just days after Pittsburgh acquired Stuart Skinner from Edmonton in exchange for Tristan Jarry, the two teams faced off on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena. Both goaltenders got the starts for their new clubs, wearing their old masks as they wait for the new ones to get finished.

“Yeah, it was definitely different,” Skinner said. “Super weird, like, taking a nap and thinking that I'm playing the old team. So, the first period, I feel like for the first five minutes I kind of had to settle my game in and calm my mind down. And as the game went on, I think I did a better and better job at that.”

There are not many players in the league who are more familiar with the skill and talent of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl than Skinner. After going against them in practice for years, he had to face them in game action tonight, and both McDavid (2G-2A) and Draisaitl (4A) came away with four-point performances in a 6-4 Oilers win.

“Their two big dogs were really going today. It was something to watch at times, even as an opponent,” Erik Karlsson said. “They had a hell of a game. We couldn’t find a way to kind of get traction going. I don’t think we play poorly, but I also don’t think we maybe didn’t play the smartest game for the matchup that we had today. That’s on us in here to realize that a little earlier, maybe.”

The Penguins found themselves in a tough spot about midway through the first, taking three penalties in a 1:26 span for interference, hooking and delay of game (puck over the glass). And the Oilers, who came into tonight with the league’s third-best power play at 30.2%, took advantage. Draisaitl picked up his 1,000^th NHL point on Zach Hyman’s 5-on-3 goal.

“I was his teammate for a long time, and whenever anybody gets 1,000 points, you're going to congratulate them,” Skinner said before adding with a wry laugh, “But I would’ve rather it not be on me. But obviously, he's a great player, and he makes things happen every single night. So yeah, congratulations to him. So, yeah. A little bittersweet.”

That tally took Edmonton from a two-man advantage to the man-advantage, with McDavid converting again to give his team a 2-0 lead. Until that point, Skinner hadn’t seen much action.

“It allowed me to settle in, to be honest,” Skinner said. “I know that might sound odd, but being able to just be out there with the guys and see how well they were doing and just skating around and just feeling the whole energy of the building and everything – I think it really allowed me just take a couple deep breaths to myself. Obviously hopping right into a 5-on-3 against a really good power play, it’s tough like that. But at the same time, I thought we handled it really well. They were just able to capitalize.”

He battled as best he could, with fans chanting “STUUU!” starting then and lasting throughout the whole evening.

“It felt really good,” Skinner said with a smile. “I saw a couple signs out there, too. I saw a big face of me. It was nice. It was a great welcome. I really appreciate that from the fans. Just feels really good in my heart to feel that coming out on the ice.”

Tommy Novak got some momentum back on Pittsburgh’s side with a late goal to make it 2-1 going into the intermission. There was some back-and-forth in the second, with Matt Savoie regaining the two-goal lead; Erik Karlsson scoring on the power play; and Evan Bouchard making it a 3-for-4 night on the man-advantage a little bit later.

“I think for myself, I didn't really like the way I was moving, especially in the second period,” Skinner said. “Obviously, the Savoie goal can't go in. And I think the Bouchard goal is a bad read on my part. I was staying on my goal line, and he roofs it, and I know he's got a good shot, so I need to respect that. So, I think those two I need to for sure have.”

While the Penguins felt pretty good about their 5-on-5 play, the power play was unable to match Edmonton’s success on Tuesday night, going 1-for-6 on the man advantage. They weren’t able to generate much after Ben Kindel drew a double minor for high sticking.

“I'm not sure if they were doing anything, or we just may not have been executing well,” Bryan Rust said. “Maybe we were a touch slow tonight on the power play. Give them credit. They pressured, they worked hard, and they kind of packed it in.”

Rust extended his goal-scoring streak to four games in the third against Jarry, his longtime locker stallmate. The Penguins paid tribute to Jarry during a TV timeout in the first, who waved to the crowd from his net.

“It was definitely weird (playing against him), especially during the anthems,” Rust said. “He’s doing whatever he does in front of the net, and then now you can actually see him. It’s weird. He’s a guy who I’ve been friends and teammates with for obviously a really long time. It was tough.”

McDavid responded with an empty-netter before Danton Heinen got one with seconds left to make it 6-4, which stood as the final score. It was a tough homestand to say the least, with the Penguins going 0-2-3.

“The season is obviously going to be a bit of a roller coaster,” Rust said. “Obviously, right now, we’re in a downswing. I think we can’t just go around here, moping around, and coming in with long faces. I think each day is a new day. Think about this one for the rest of the night, learn our lessons, and move on.

“Obviously, we've had a few too many lessons to learn here recently, but we can't sit and sulk on it.”