Oilers fans rip Stuart Skinner for goaltending blunder that wiped 3-0 lead vs. Flames : "Did he have a stroke?"

In Wednesday’s season opener between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames, the Oilers built a 3-0 lead by the second period, but the Flames staged a late comeback, scoring twice in the second and once in the third to tie the game 3-3.

The tying goal came when Flames’ Connor Zary fired a shot from the neutral zone. Goalie Stuart Skinner stopped it but left the puck in front of the net.

Oilers’ Evan Bouchard was nearby and Blake Coleman poked the puck between Skinner’s legs to score. Skinner seemingly expected Bouchard to handle the puck, which resulted in the blunder.

Fans took to social media to voice their frustration. One fan criticized Bouchard:

"Bouchard is horrible not worth the 10 mil."

I Drive

@JMann00568921

@EdmontonOilers Bouchard is horrible not worth the 10 mil

Another questioned Skinner’s judgment:

"Did Skinner have a stroke? Dude had ample time to do something with the puck there??? Like wtf???"

𝒞𝑜𝓃𝓃𝑜𝓇

@ConnorAndrews

@EdmontonOilers Did Skinner have a stroke? Dude had ample time to do something with the puck there??? Like wtf???

Here are some fan reactions:

"Skinner ALL the way back on his bullshit!! cant wait for his bum ass to cost us a Cup for the 3rd straight year..." one fan wrote,

"Lol, he believes he should be an olympic goalie" another fan wrote.

"First game and Skinner, is writing his ticket out of Edmonton like WTF" a user commented.

"Totally. Bouchard is equally to be blamed" another user wrote.

The Oilers lost 4-3 in the shootout against the Flames.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Leon Draisaitl, and Andrew Mangiapane scored for the Oilers. Connor Zary and Matvei Gridin also tallied for the Flames. Stuart Skinner made 19 saves in the loss. Dustin Wolf stopped 32 shots for Calgary.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch addressed Stuart Skinner’s third-goal blunder

After the game, when asked about Skinner taking responsibility for the third goal, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch acknowledged that mistakes like that are part of the game. Knoblauch said:

"Pretty tough to go through a whole season without something like that happening," Knoblauch said (1:00 onwards). "If it happens more often than not, then we've got an issue, but it's an unfortunate play. It's something that you don't want to see, but it happens."

Regarding Calgary’s comeback from a 3-0 deficit, Knoblauch pointed to turnovers as the key issue:

“As soon as we made it 3-0, we got really sloppy with the puck. Before that, I thought we were outstanding with it. Um, but that was definitely the turning point."

The Oilers next face the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.