McDavid shuns stigma Oilers can't play defense: 'We're a different team'
Connor McDavid isn't here for the narrative that the Edmonton Oilers are an offensive juggernaut and nothing else.
"Yes, we can play defense," McDavid told reporters following Edmonton's 3-0 win in Friday's Game 2 against the Dallas Stars. "We're a different team than years past. Probably not as run and gun as we've been in years past."
Stuart Skinner made 25 saves in the victory for his third shutout in the last four games. He blanked the Vegas Golden Knights in Games 4 and 5 of Round 2 to help Edmonton advance to the Western Conference Final.
"Stu was great," McDavid added.
The captain continued: "The forwards are coming back really hard. Everybody's selling out blocking shots. It's that time of year. That's what it takes."
Skinner's three shutouts this postseason tied the franchise's single playoff record, previously set by Curtis Joseph in 1998. Skinner now has four career playoff shutouts, passing Bill Ranford for second on the Oilers' all-time list, and sits one back of Joseph.
"Stu was phenomenal," forward Zach Hyman said. "The chances that they did get he shut the door."
Head coach Kris Knoblauch noted that while the Oilers did battle hard defensively, Skinner was there to come up clutch when the Stars did generate chances.
"Part of the reason we're talking about how much better we were defensively is, yeah we had breakdowns tonight, we did give up some good chances. The one that I think about is early in the third period on the breakaway, and Stu comes up big," Knoblauch said. "He made some really big saves for us tonight. Yes our team had some blocked shots, and yeah we defended well. But Stu had a lot of timely saves."
Skinner was particularly strong in the third period, turning aside nine shots and thwarting all seven of Dallas' high-danger scoring chances.
The Edmonton native got off to a rough start this postseason and was pulled in favor of Calvin Pickard after Game 2 of Round 1. But Skinner has been sharp ever since re-entering the crease for an injured Pickard in Round 2. Overall, he owns an .890 save percentage and a 2.90 goals-against average in seven appearances this postseason.