Oilers HC Kris Knoblauch makes his feelings known about Stuart Skinner's Stanley Cup Finals performance 

Stuart Skinner and the Edmonton Oilers fell in heartbreaking fashion in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Florida Panthers on Friday night.

After an amazing Game 1 win in overtime, the Oilers had the opportunity to take somewhat of a commanding 2-0 series lead on home ice. They came out flying, and the stars were all over the scoresheet, but to nobody's surprise, Florida pushed back and took the lead late into the third period.

However, as they've shown all postseason long, don't count Edmonton out. Corey Perry tied the game up with 17.8 seconds left to force a second consecutive overtime affair. A fourth period of play solved nothing, but unfortunately for Stuart Skinner and the Oilers, the fifth frame ended with Brad Marchand burying his second breakaway goal of the night.

With the series now tied up at one and headed to Florida, Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch was asked to provide his thoughts on Skinner's play in the first two games. The Edmonton Oilers shared his full media availability on YouTube.

"Stu had a tremendous game, especially in the first period, which was very open. There were some challenging moments like breakaways and deflections, but overall, his performance has been phenomenal since the Vegas series. We need him to continue playing at this level to have a chance to win," Knoblauch said (3:05).

Skinner has posted a 7-5-0 record to go with a 2.61 goals-against average, a .901 save percentage, and three shutouts this postseason.

Stuart Skinner avoided a potentially serious injury in Game 2

We had yet another incident of Florida Panthers forward Sam Bennett colliding with a goaltender on Friday night.

During the first period of Game 2, Bennett appeared to be engaged in a battle with Mattias Ekholm in front of the net before falling back onto the right leg of Stuart Skinner. It didn't look good at first glance, though the 26-year-old was able to gut it out and stay in for the remainder of the game.

Sportsnet shared the video of the play on X (formerly Twitter).

Bennett notably collided with Maple Leafs goaltender Anthony Stolarz in Game 1 of the second round, causing him to miss the final six games of that series.

Skinner will look to rest and recover in preparation for Game 3 against the Panthers on Monday night in Florida. The puck drops at 8 p.m. EST at Amerant Bank Arena.

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Edited by Jackson Weber