Adding insult to the injury of a tough game, former NHL enforcer Rob Ray, how the colour commentator for the Buffalo Sabres, took a nasty on-air shot at Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner.
Ray’s comment came when the Sabres pulled Skinner to get an extra man out to try to score as the Sabres held a 4-1 lead in their Monday night game.
Said Roy, “Empty net for Edmonton… yeah, it has been most of the night, so what’s the difference?”
This prompted the popular on-line NHL site Gino Hard to note, “Buffalo commentator Rob Ray did Stu Skinner dirty 😭💀”
Sports betting analyst Brady Trettenero is the host of the Gino Hard podcast.
Some Oilers fans agreed with Ray.
Oilers fan Captain Jack 🏴☠️ @OilersJack
The Buffalo Sabres broadcast openly mocking the Edmonton Oilers ongoing goaltending issues. The whole league knows what’s wrong with the Oilers, I wonder when the Oilers will catch on.
Oilers fan cait 🤍 @reignusoking
lmaoooo someone needed to say it 💀
But not all Oilers fans:
Oilers fan Adrian “Ferns” Fernando @Browndalorian
Stu Skinner’s been good of late. This is below the belt.
Oilers fan Bone @bonejrp
It’s also hilarious as hell to see a guy who’s broadcast for the Sabres for this entire run of futility mocking the Oilers when he literally works for the worst run franchise of the last 15 years.
My take
1. It’s not common for NHL commentator to takes such harsh shots at players, certainly not on home team players, but not even when it comes to opposing players.
Of course, we’re entering a new era of trolling, given the explosion of angry and/or vicious on-line commentary. At the same time, I prefer a world where NHL commentators show more discretion in terms of trolling and doling out cheap shots.
I have plenty of time for deep and pointed on-air criticism about where exactly players go wrong on a play — with sharp commentators such as Ray Ferraro and Kevin Bieksa masters of this kind of approach — but it lowers the level of commentary when cheap shots are part of the repertoire.
Team broadcasters are, essentially, business partners with the NHL and NHL teams. Some of them work for the team itself.
Are personal insults really necessary from such NHL-affiliated commentators? Maybe a World Wrestling Federation approach is welcome for some fans. I don’t like it on-air. It’s part of the on-line scene, but that’s a different setting. What’s appropriate on-line from fans isn’t necessarily appropriate on-air from NHL broadcasts.
It’s like the difference between swearing in front of your friends at a bar and swearing in front of your parents at home.
2. From my own game grades, here was my assessment of Skinner’s play last night: “Stuart Skinner, 5. He didn’t lose this one, but didn’t save his team either. Early turnover almost resulted in disaster but Sabres slot pass went awry. But he thwarted big Tage Thompson’s early PP 5-alarm slotter, then a dangerous Ryan McLeod slotter, followed by a hard Tuck break-in shot. But the strong streak ended when he got beat by Ostlund down low, too passive on his poke-check there. Battled back with two big saves on Malenstyn from the slot in the second. But he bit hard on a faked shot and let in Byram’s outside slot shot. No chance on the third Buff goal, a nasty Californian of a goal, high slot tip right out of the Brent Burns/Joe Pavelski San Jose playbook. He was completely screened on the fourth Sabres goal.”
3. There was plenty of angst and anger on-line from Oilers fans as well about Monday night’s loss, along with no shortage of sour but fair commentary on what’s going wrong with the 2025-26 Oilers.
Perhaps the most disturbing comments made by a number of fans and pundits was how poorly the Oilers were playing at even strength this year without Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl on the ice.
In the 523 even strength minutes that the Oilers have played this year without one of the two on the ice, the team has scored 14 goals and given up 36 against, a ridiculously bad 28% Goals For Percentage.
Last season, 2024-25, that same number in 2213 minutes without McDavid or Draisaitl on the-ice was 73 goals for, 95 against, a much better 43.5 goals for percentage.
In 2023-24, coach Kris Knoblauch’s first year with the team, in 2036 even minutes, it was 75 goals for, 75 goals against, a 50% goals for percentage.
Houston, we have a problem. And it’s not just goaltending.
4. It’s still early to assess Oilers players on goals for and goals against, even if we drill down to the individual level, using video analysis to see which players are truly driving goals scoring and making the most glaring mistakes on goals against. It takes about 60 games to get a large enough sample size for these numbers to start to align with other more exact on-ice metrics, such as their individual contributions and mistakes on Grade A shots.
That said, here are the early indicators on individual goals for and against at even strength on the Oilers, with Connor McDavid leading the way at +12 and Leon Draisaitl +9. Struggling right now is Darnell Nurse, -7 and Trent Frederic, -6.
goals
At the Cult of Hockey
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