January 17, 2023 by Eric Friesen

When Jack Campbell signed a five-year contract worth $25 million with the Edmonton Oilers on July 13, 2022, he was expected to start around 50 games, with rookie Stuart Skinner making 32 appearances in 2022-23.

Instead, Skinner stole the starter’s job early on this season, and was undoubtedly the Oilers’ better goalie through the first-half. But with Skinner returning home to Edmonton for the birth of his first child last week, there was an opportunity for Campbell to take the net back during a crucial West Coast road trip for the Oilers.

Campbell has posted a 4-1-0 record with a 2.18 goals against average and a .912 save percentage in his last five games, including an important 4-3 victory over the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. After stringing together three consecutive wins, Campbell feels good about the direction his game is trending.

“It sure does [feel good],” Campbell said following a dominating 7-1 win over the San Jose Sharks on Friday. “I’m just trying to keep building on it. It’s definitely more what I expect out of myself, and the team’s playing great in front of me, so we’re just trying to keep it going together.”

The 31-year-old has stopped 107 of 117 shots he has faced since January 3, and has looked more like the goaltender who was named to the 2022 NHL All-Star Game. Campbell has done a better job recently of tracking pucks, limiting rebounds into the slot area and letting the play come to him. Though it’s a small sample size, Campbell’s strong play and improved consistency since the calendar turned to 2023 is a positive sign.

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Skinner leads the league in save percentage (.914) and ranks second in wins (12) and fifth in goals against average (2.96) among rookie goalies who have played in at least 10 games this season. The 24-year-old performed well enough through the first two months of his rookie campaign to earn a three-year contract extension worth $7.8 million with Oilers on December 19, 2022.

Notwithstanding Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Skinner was the Oilers’ most important player through the first-half of 2022-23. Despite only having 40 games of NHL experience, Skinner has been extremely reliable between the pipes, and has given the Oilers a chance to win on most nights. While there is an internal competition for playing time, Skinner and Campbell continue to support each other.

“I’m obviously very happy for him,” Skinner said on January 7. “I mean, I think he’s been playing great all season. Sometimes you don’t get the results, but you’re still playing a good game, and that what’s I thought with Soupy. He had a great game a couple nights ago, and I’m super happy for him. He was solid, he was calm and collected out there.”

The strength of schedule won’t be as difficult for the Oilers in the second-half. Still, because of the heavy travel in the Western Conference and four remaining sets of back-to-back games, both goalies will be counted on down the stretch drive to secure a playoff spot.

Skinner has played well above expectations so far, but he will be tested as the games mean more in March and April. The Edmonton product has posted a .933 save percentage or better in 11 of 26 games this season, so he’s giving the team elite goaltending roughly 42 percent of the time. If he can maintain his .912 save percentage on the season, the Oilers should be able to regularly outscore the opposition.

After a slow start to his first season in Edmonton, Campbell has really started to find his game in January. With some more modernized equipment and additional time to get conformable in his new surroundings, I think Campbell is primed to have a save percentage north of .900 the rest of the way.

While Head Coach Jay Woodcroft’s has been impressed with Campbell’s recent steady play, he has confidence in playing either goalie.

“I think since post-Christmas [Campbell’s] game has really come along,” Woodcroft said in his pre-game presser on Tuesday. “He’s worked at it. So, I’ve been happy with that. I said this the other day, in two games post-Christmas where Stuart has started, Jack has come into those games midway through and given us some really good minutes. And I thought that he’s been able to carry that over into his next start. He’s putting something together and he’s going to be a big factor in our second-half of the season. We believe we have two really good goaltenders. We think it’s a good tandem. And for us to get to where we want to get to, he’s going to have to help us get there.”