Skinner fails first chance to show Oilers he can be trusted

Trust from Oilers general manager Stan Bowman, as Skinner becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Trust from the hockey world — and Oilers fans — two entities that are (to put it nicely) not sold on Skinnerâ€s ability to provide championship goaltending.

But, most importantly, trust from his teammates. Belief inside an Oilers dressing room that houses a roster — and a captain — that is more than ready to win, that Skinnerâ€s game can help them get there.

Because if he is not that goalie, then itâ€s time for Bowman to find that goalie. No more waiting for Stu.

Skinnerâ€s “trust†season started in arrears on opening night in a 4-3 shootout loss to the Calgary Flames, as he coughed up a deflating, game-tying goal just 40 seconds into the third period. Skinner moved far too slowly in handling a dump-in from centre ice, allowing Blake Coleman to poke a puck through his legs and into the net.

“I just had to make a quicker decision,†said Skinner, who has always been patient in describing a miscue and courageous in facing the media in good times and bad. “The game happens fast down there, and it’s just kind of a miscommunication, and I was slow to react to.

“If that doesn’t go in, we win the game. Two points. But you know what? The way that we responded as a team was fantastic.â€

Itâ€s awesome that Skinner takes blame for the shaky goal that ruins an otherwise pretty good night, and itâ€s great that his teammates are so good at bouncing back from them.

Whatâ€s not so awesome is the fact that he so often finds himself standing there, answering to one of those back-breaking goals.

And his teamâ€s ability to weather a softie? Perhaps that comes from practice.

“It was one bad decision and it makes you look really bad and thatâ€s kind of how it goes,†said Skinner. “At the start of the third period, making a decision like that killed our momentum and made it 3-3.â€

Bowman may lose some sleep over it. McDavid may as well.

But Skinner wonâ€t, a coping mechanism that comes with the position.

“I wonâ€t be thinking about it, no,†he said. “It happens. Itâ€s probably the easiest fix Iâ€ll make this year. A quick decision, throw it in the corner, thatâ€s that.â€

As a team, Edmonton didnâ€t have the finish it required at five-on-five, and could have won the game in a shootout.

But you know what else it didnâ€t have? A goalie who made sure it never reached extra time, against a Flames team that doesnâ€t have much push.

That bleeder of a goal, in the first game of a season that begins with a major question mark hovering above the Oilers’ crease, was a gut punch.

“Anytime you get scored on, yes, it’s a gut punch,†said head coach Kris Knoblauch, who found himself in a familiar spot Wednesday — sitting behind a podium, protecting his starter after another bad goal. “Whether it’s us playing an almost perfect first half of the game, and then we get sloppy, and they score on (a fluke deflection) goal — that was a gut punch (too).

“We had a 3-2 lead. We should be fine, but it happens.â€

It happens too often around here, and hereâ€s why that is going to become a problem for Skinner:

Weâ€ve been making a living around hockey players for more than three decades, and one thing weâ€ve come to know is that the players always know.

They know when a teammate can help, and when he canâ€t. Usually before the coach or GM knows.

They know the difference between a good player getting some bad luck, and a player whose luck is always bad because that is what his game earns him.

This train has made it to two Cup Finals, losing twice for a number of reasons — but including the fact that the Florida Panthers had better goaltending than Edmonton.

Either Skinner changes that this season, or Bowman changes it.

And if the team canâ€t trust its ‘tendy, I know where my money is.

The Oilers announced Wednesday night they had signed the free agent Jack Roslovic to a one-year deal worth $1.5 million.

GM Stan Bowman stood on the sidelines while Roslovic tested the free agent waters all summer, telling his agent, “We love the player. We don’t have a lot of money to spend right now,†Bowman said after the deal was announced. “So if he wants to come here and bet on himself and get a chance to play, we’d love to have him.â€

What resulted was a one-year deal for a right-shot winger/centre who had 22 goals and 39 points for Carolina last year. His 21 even-strength goals were tied for the Hurricanes†team lead.

“The one thing we’re trying to add to our group is even strength scoring,†said Bowman. “Obviously, our power play has been pretty strong the last few years. We haven’t had as much success scoring when we weren’t on the power play.â€

The Oilers are the fifth team for the 28-year-old Columbus, Ohio native, drafted 25th overall by Winnipeg a decade ago.

“The type of player we would be looking for around the trade deadline would be this type of a player, exactly,†Bowman said. “He’s available now, and he’s a free agent. You can get him signed, at a low amount… There’s a lot of things that really worked in our favour.â€

Roslovic will join the team this week, but Bowman will have to make a roster move before activating him.

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