Oilers Notebook: Skinner earns chance to continue playoff run in Game 5

EDMONTON — Stuart Skinner had one thing to say to Jack Campbell after Game 4, when the latter bailed out the former in a come-from-behind overtime win for Edmonton.

“He went in there cold, and I apologized to Jack for doing that to him,” said Skinner, who will start in goal in Game 5 tonight in Edmonton. “You never get put into a great spot when you go in cold. He did a great job.”

Campbell stopped 27 of 28 shots in the 5-4 overtime win, as the Oilers tied the series at 2-2. When you come out of the first period behind 3-0 and give your goalie the hook, it’s not often you find yourself celebrating a win a couple of hours later.

But Edmonton did just that, after a fantastic bit of relief by Campbell.

“Unbelievable. He was stellar,” Skinner said of his stablemate. “He made a huge, huge breakaway save (on Viktor Arvidsson with 5:46 to play), and after that we ended up scoring (to tie the game), and won it in overtime. You could say that stop won us the game.”

This is simply a case of a head coach, as they used to say, dancing with the girl that brought him to the dance.

Campbell started just four of the Oilers' final 18 games this season, but he went 4-0 with a .930 saves percentage. So as Skinner was honing his game to be the playoff starter, Campbell was reclaiming his, piecing together his fundamentals after a season that saw him completely change his goalie gear and have to really dig in on his technical game.

All of this was done behind an excellent run of games by Skinner, who laid claim to the starter’s job fair and square.

Why did Woodcroft choose to go back with Skinner, whose numbers — .881 save percentage and 3.38 goals-against average — aren’t stellar?

“I start with the basis of understanding that we have two really good goaltenders, and that's a luxury for a head coach to have,” Woodcroft said. “In the end, it's the head coach's decision.”

Teams that win Game 5 in a series that is tied 2-2 have a series record of 224-61 (.786).

Vincent Desharnais didn’t play another shift after about the midway point of the second period in Game 4. He had a rough start, getting walked by Arvidsson for a goal, but he’ll be back in tonight — with a short memory.

“I don't change my routine. I think it's been going very well for me,” said the likeable Desharnais. “There are ups and downs, and obviously I want to have a better first period than last game. But you can't focus on that; you can't focus on the mistakes and what you did wrong.”

Everybody has a bad game once in a while, but when you’re a rookie on a team that goes with 11 forwards and seven defencemen, the coach has more room to sit you down. But Desharnais has earned his spot here, and deserves the chance to step back into the lineup.

“Vincent has been a heck of a player here for us, down the stretch run and into the playoffs,” Woodcroft said. “I think he's being a little hard on himself.”

Before Jordan Eberle scored in overtime for Seattle last night, road teams had won 11 straight games in these playoffs.

In a time when some teams prefer to open series on the road, is home-ice advantage simply not what it used to be?

“Honestly, I think home-ice is great for Game 7,” began crafty Kings centre Phillip Danault. “If you start on the road, it's not a bad thing. You can steal one and then play with them in their head. But I think Game 7 is probably (still) an advantage.”

Here’s the coach’s take, courtesy L.A.’s Todd McLellan.

“I don't know if that's the players’ mentality change, or perhaps there's more skill and more talent that's evenly distributed around the league,” he said. “Even the line matches don't always get in the way (like they used to). You have people who can play against anybody, (whereas) in the past teams were constructed a little bit different. Maybe certain players couldn't play at all against others.

“That's my quick answer to a good question.”