Skinner not sweating poor stats: Win column 'most important'

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner isn't concerned about his subpar stats to start the season as long as he's helping his club secure two points.

"I'm still working through that stuff," Skinner told Sportsnet's Mark Spector, in regard to ignoring outside noise about his game. "When it's really good, it's easy not to look at (the stats). When it's really bad, it's easy to look at them.

"What I have learned is that the win column is the most important stat. It's easy to be selfish; it can be hard to be selfless and only care about the wins. But that's ultimately what everybody really cares about. If you get enough wins to make the playoffs, you did your job."

Skinner is 5-5-1 on the season with an .881 save percentage and 3.22 goals-against average. He was considered a candidate to join Canada's 4 Nations Face-Off squad but has likely proved to be too inconsistent based on his recent body of work.

Skinner helped guide the Oilers to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in the spring but had a roller-coaster postseason that included being sat in the second round.

He believes his trials and tribulations have helped him improve, even if his stats don't reflect it.

"I would just say throughout the experience that I got, especially in the playoffs, that has got to make it better," he said. "It made me a much better goalie and much better mentally as well. We all know what happened in the Vancouver series for me, and that only made me better and stronger.

"I don't see how I'm not a better goalie right now."

The Oilers drafted Skinner in the third round in 2017. He's managed a .907 save percentage in 134 appearances with the club.