Jeff Skinner had a moment he’ll never forget in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final.
Substituted into the Oilers’ lineup with Zach Hyman out with a broken wrist, Skinner scored in the first period to put Edmonton up 3-0 over the Dallas Stars. The tally marked Skinner’s first career postseason goal.
The 33-year-old forward banged home a rebound past Stars goaltender Casey DeSmith, who replaced Jake Oettinger in the net after the 2024 NHL All-Star gave up two early strikes.
For Skinner, the goal in the playoffs comes during his 15th year in the NHL and after 1,078 career regular season games — the most in NHL history before making a postseason appearance.
“It’s been exciting,” Skinner said to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan during the first intermission. “Obviously these guys have been working hard and in the battle for a long time. It’s nice to come in and try to contribute.”
Skinner spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Carolina Hurricanes (2010-2018) where he scored 20-or-more goals six different times. He moved on to the Buffalo Sabres in 2018 and stayed there for six seasons before signing with the Oilers in 2024 and making the playoffs for the first time in April.
“He must have thought about this for a long time” ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro said on the telecast. “He made no mistake with it.”
Skinner’s first postseason game came on April 21, 2025 in Game 1 against the Los Angeles Kings — the Oilers’ first game of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Skinner notched an assist in the appearance, but was removed from the lineup in Game 2 after Evander Kane returned from knee surgery — an injury that kept him out of the entire regular season. After sitting out for another five-and-a-half weeks, Skinner returned to the lineup in Edmonton’s potential elimination of the Stars
“Just play simple,” Skinner said of what he needed to do to be successful. “I think there’s a lot of veteran guys, a lot of guys easy to read off of, so I think when you come in when you’ve been away for a while, it’s nice to come in with a veteran group like that.”
