Oilers' Skinner understands pressure on Binnington at 4 Nations

EDMONTON — Stuart Skinner hasn’t missed a minute of Team Canada’s games at the 4 Nations Face-Off, as he watches fellow goalie Jordan Binnington live some version of the life that Skinner led in last spring’s Stanley Cup run.

Like Skinner on so many nights, Binnington is making enough saves for his team to win more than it loses. But somehow, the morning after the game it’s not those saves that people are talking about.

It’s the saves he didn’t make that are keeping sports radio in business.

There’s a goaltending controversy swirling around certain corners of the Oilers' fanbase, fed by the fact Skinner was pulled in his final start before the 4 Nations break. Remember, some folks around here still blame the goalie — unfairly, we would say — for a 2-1 loss in Game 7 versus Florida where one of the NHL’s top offensive teams received just one goal… from Mattias Janmark.

So we sat down with Skinner on Tuesday to talk Team Canada goaltending, as the Oilers returned for their first practice post-break.

We bring you, Skinner on Binner:

“You do get love for amazing saves you make, for sure,” began Skinner, “but that's kind of just being a goaltender, I find. We're in that spot where, when you get a shutout you're on top of the world. And if you lose 1-0, it's your fault.”

Skinner gets it more than many goalies we’ve dealt with over the years.

“You lost because you let in a goal. That's just how it is,” he reasons. “But I'm sure Binner, just like every other goalie, we've learned that you can't really listen to it.

“We're all human. We all make mistakes.”

Don’t talk to Canadians about being human, or making mistakes, come Thursday night against Team USA.

If the end result isn't a ‘W,’ you know Canadian hockey fans as well as I do. They’ll be looking for someone — anyone — to pin the blame on.

That level of pressure is why putting an iffy goal behind you can be a whole different thing when the games get as big as the one Binnington is going to start on Thursday.

“You try to make it as normal as possible,” Skinner said. “I've been able to play in the Stanley Cup and (the preceding playoff rounds). So to get (over) letting in a bad goal, it's kind of the same. The stakes are higher, so it's definitely harder because you feel the goal a little bit more.”

Skinner often speaks of trying to keep his world small. That means everything from spending quiet, non-hockey time with his wife and kids, to letting friends know not to bring whatever they’ve seen and heard on the internet into his kitchen.

Sequestered in Boston however, with this magnitude of game awaiting him, it will take a special effort for Binnington to keep his world small this week.

“There's definitely that pressure,” said Skinner, “but he's won the Stanley Cup too. So he's used to pressure. He's pretty experienced with it. I think he's doing a heck of a job."

“Team Canada, they have a lot of faith in Binner, as they should,” he added, explaining why they’ve given every minute to Binnington thus far. “You keep on playing him so that you can get to the Final, right? So here we are — in the Final.”

It’s funny. From his seat on the couch, Skinner has been afforded a completely new view of Connor McDavid, a guy he watches for 82 games a year.

“It's pretty amazing watching him from at home, more as a fan,” said Skinner, who will likely get the start in Philadelphia Saturday as the Oilers open with a back-to-back against the Flyers and Capitals this weekend. “You really get to see him from a different perspective. The first shift he had, I looked at my wife and said, ‘He's amazing. He's such a good hockey player.'"

“I don't really watch him too much when we're playing. I'm doing my own thing,” Skinner said. “But when you watch him on TV, it’s like, ‘This guy's so fast…’”

It took him a while, but you can’t get much past Skinner. Or Binnington, Canadians hope.