Stuart Skinner Comes Up Big In Oilers' Close Win

"You don't necessarily win the ones you should win, sometimes you win the ones you shouldn't."

Those were Zach Hyman's thoughts on the Oilers' 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday. It's clear where he was coming from: Buffalo outshot Edmonton 41-32, peppering Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner with 36 shots in the final 40 minutes. The Oilers were lucky to come away with a win against the last-place team in the Eastern Conference.

Skinner was the biggest reason for the Oilers' win, making several huge stops on a high-octane Sabres offence after not seeing a single shot until midway through the first.

Saturday marked only the second time the Oilers have given up 40 shots in a game this season, after allowing 42 in their 1-0 loss to Vegas on December 14th.

That being said, the Oilers also got big performances from elsewhere in the lineup in the final game of Connor McDavid's suspension. Jeff Skinner scored in his first game against the Sabres after they bought him out over the summer to open the scoring for Edmonton, his first point since January 7th in Boston.

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Even better, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins continued his recent hot streak, notching both the tying and winning goals to give himself 7 points in his last 5 games.

Even with Nugent-Hopkins' go-ahead goal in the third, this game very nearly went to overtime. With less than four minutes left in the final frame, Sabres rookie Jiri Kulich found the back of the net for what looked like his second goal of the game. Thankfully for Edmonton, the goal was disallowed for kicking, and the score remained 3-2.

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It certainly wasn't how you'd draw it up, but the end result is all that matters: a 3-2 win that moves Edmonton into first place in the Pacific Divison for the first time since December of 2021. They're now one point ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights with both teams at 49 games played.

The Oilers will be back in action on Monday, as they welcome the Seattle Kraken to town.

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