The noise surrounding Stuart Skinner only got louder after the Edmonton Oilers dropped a 7-4 decision to the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night.

Edmonton was chasing all night long, spotting an early 2-0 lead to the Capitals before battling back to make it 3-2 at the end of the first period. The Oilers would keep chipping in a goal, but Skinner kept on giving one right back to Washington. In the end, the 27-year-old goaltender allowed five goals on a measly 19 shots, ending the night with a horrid .767 save percentage.

Stu’s record dropped to 7-6-2 on the season, while his overall save percentage is now at a dismal .881 on the year. It’s getting ugly between the pipes, but head coach Kris Knoblauch was not about to throw his goaltender under the bus.

Instead, Knoblauch told the media after the game that the fault lay with team defence, not goaltending.

“We don’t give Stu much help,” Knoblauch said. “You look at these nights where Stu is giving up a lot of goals and you’re thinking it’s on goaltending, but we’re not making the game easy for him.”

“This group is a resilient group.”

Coach Knoblauch addresses the media after the #Oilers loss in Washington. @Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/vdNQW3AN9A

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 20, 2025

The Oilers coach is right that the team’s defensive play has not been acceptable this season. They allowed the Capitals to crash the net without much resistance, consistently misplayed the puck, and were a massive liability once again.

Two things can be true, however, and you cannot simply exonerate Skinner after he put in another disappointing performance. There were several goals scored against Edmonton where Skinner could have given the team a big save, but failed to do so.

David Tomášek, who notched one of the Oilers’ goals, put it pretty plainly after the game, but did not call out Skinner.

“Difference was the one goal; we just let in too many goals,” Tomášek said. “Giving up too many goals…They had more odd-man rushes, more chances.

“That stuff needs to be better.”

“Giving up too many goals.”

David Tomasek speaks after tonight’s #Oilers defeat to the Capitals.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/rTJNItA6fi

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) November 20, 2025

The Oilers’ offence was actually clicking for once, netting four goals against a good goalie in Logan Thompson, but every time they found momentum, Skinner found a way to stifle it with a goal against.

If Edmonton got one or two big saves, they might’ve won this game, but they didn’t, and it’s time to stop pretending that this is wholly a defensive problem. That exists, certainly, but that doesn’t absolve the goaltending.

After Wednesday’s loss, the Oilers now rank dead-last in the league in goals-against (80), goals against at five-on-five (58), and team save percentage (.857).

The Oilers are dead last in several defensive categories pic.twitter.com/K5lDQX08Te

— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) November 20, 2025

The Oilers need to do something with their goaltending. It’s been three seasons of the same narrative, and still, nothing has been done. They’ve somehow managed to get to two Stanley Cup Finals despite this, but it’s not working anymore.

Other markets see it, with Buffalo Sabres commentator Rob Ray openly mocking Skinner on the broadcast, and veteran TNT broadcaster Darren Pang noting how old this argument is.

“Sounds like we just rewound this tape from 3 years ago” –@Panger40

The Oilers/Stuart Skinner debate is still a topic of discussion this season 👀 pic.twitter.com/WtIHuSTWru

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) November 19, 2025

It’s time that the Oilers see it, because it’s become so painstakingly obvious.