Leon Draisaitl throws shade at Stuart Skinner after Game 3?

The Edmonton Oilers did not have goaltender Calvin Pickard, winner of 6 straight games in the Stanley Cup playoffs, available for them in Game 3 and, as many fans predicted, this resulted in the Oilers falling short of taking a 3 games series lead over the Vegas Golden Knights in their second round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

It was Stuart Skinner who was given the start for the Oilers on Saturday and Skinner would make 24 saves while giving up 4 goals on his way to a .833 save percentage and more importantly a 4-3 loss to the Golden Knights in regulation.

If you just looked at those numbers it would be easy to point the finger of blame at Skinner for the loss but it would be unfair to leave out the fact that, on many of the goals he allowed, he was simply left out to dry by his teammates. The fourth goal of the game was the worst example, perhaps the biggest mistake of the Stanley Cup playoffs so far courtesy of Oilers star forward Leon Draisaitl, but it wasn't the only one with the Oilers making a number of key mistakes including a terrible line change on the 3rd Golden Knights goal of the game.

That's why it was very surprising to hear some of the comments made by the aforementioned Leon Draisaitl following the game, comments that appeared to throw shade in Skinner's direction or perhaps even point to a lack of faith in Skinner within the Oilers locker room.

"The first one I get stripped there... so that's obviously on me but I think just the quickness of the 2 [goals] deflated us a little bit, so obviously something to look at," said Draisaitl pointing to a pivotal moment in the game.

That pivotal moment in the game was a 54 seconds stretch of play in which Skinner gave up 2 goals in quick succession, erasing the 2 goal lead the Oilers had established early on in the blink of an eye.

Was Draisaitl throwing shade in Skinner's direction after a tough loss? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.