3 shutout streaks changed the course of Round 2
Stuart Skinner was kneeling in no man's land on the outskirts of the crease when a superstar teammate scored on him in Game 3. Leon Draisaitl's tiebreaking deflection into his own net with 0.4 seconds on the clock turned out to be the last goal of the Golden Knights' season.
Skinner crouched for a cursory faceoff, left the ice, and returned to blank Vegas for the next 127 minutes of action. His consecutive shutouts and Kasperi Kapanen's grubby overtime series clincher sent the Oilers to a third Western Conference final in four years. Edmonton mobbed the grinning goalie and the heroic waiver pickup as the teams lined up for handshakes.
The turn of events reflected the volatility of goaltending. Skinner's terrible 0-2 start to the postseason forced the Oilers to bench him. Functional backup Calvin Pickard won six games, then got hurt against Vegas, launching Skinner's redemption tour. His career playoff save percentage is .893, but in closeout games, he's 5-1 with a .925 save percentage following Wednesday's 1-0 triumph.
Over in the Eastern Conference, the Maple Leafs lit up Sergei Bobrovsky for two games and parts of another, but his turnaround in the middle of the series saved the Panthers' Stanley Cup defense. Injuries derailed Frederik Andersen's season, yet the Hurricanes veteran righted the ship and enters Thursday's elimination opportunity with a league-leading .935 save rate.
Their shutout streaks changed the second round. Skinner stopped 47 straight shots to wreck the Golden Knights' Cup dream. Bobrovsky stoned the Leafs for 143 minutes and 25 seconds between the third period of Game 3 and garbage time in Wednesday's beatdown. Andersen was perfect for 123:34 as Carolina swept its homestand against the Capitals to move within a win of advancing.
Cold spells plagued Alex Ovechkin, who's beaten Andersen once on 11 shots, and Jack Eichel, whose last point for Vegas came in the first period of Game 3. Florida's pair of Selke Trophy finalists, Aleksander Barkov and Sam Reinhart, handcuffed Auston Matthews' line to get the boo birds chirping on a miserable night at Toronto's Scotiabank Arena.
Before Game 5 of Leafs-Panthers became a laugher, it was scoreless in the first period when Bobrovsky kicked aside William Nylander's breakaway attempt. Skinner flashed the leather a few times and was in position for timely saves throughout Edmonton's decisive win. Draisaitl made up for his oopsie on the own goal by stifling Eichel for all of Wednesday and assisting Kapanen's finisher at the end of a defensive marathon.
Five of the postseason's eight shutouts to date have come in Round 2. Connor Hellebuyck blanked the Stars once, but Jake Oettinger's superiority is why the Jets are on the brink. Rock-solid netminding is separating contenders from pretenders around the league.
Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.