Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals marked Stuart Skinner’s first loss in six games as he let in five goals. But coach Kris Knoblauch’s confidence in the goalie remains intact. “Stu’s game has been really good, and we’ll need him to continue to do that for us to have an opportunity to win,” he said. Fast forward to Game 3 and the Panthers now lead the series at 2-1 after defeating the Edmonton Oilers 6-1 amidst the home crowd. And now that he was on the ice for Game 3 (his 11th consecutive start), as of the third period, with the score at 5-1 in favour of the Panthers, Skinner was once again replaced by Calvin Pickard.

Needless to say, he’ll be closely scrutinized. But it seems like the scrutiny wasn’t limited only to his performance between the sticks. B/R Open Ice shared a post on X to share what seems to be the goalie’s game-day habit. “Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner barely ties his skates, per @Panger40 🤯,” the post read. Now, while the jury may still be out on his performance in front of the goal, the fan verdict on this habit is pretty clear—they don’t approve of it.

However, what concerns them even more is Skinner’s postseason form has been a rollercoaster. Despite delivering some stellar performances during these playoffs, his latest showing in Game 2 against the Panthers reignited the debate after the controversial collision with Florida’s Sam Bennett, which the latter summed up by stating, “Very surprised.” Even in the recent game, Stuart Skinner made 18 saves on 23 shots and finished with a .783 save percentage and a 6.98 goals-against average, which replaced him after allowing the Panthers to dominate early by letting Brad Marchand score the opening goal in less than a minute! Soon after which, the rest of the Panthers squad followed up to conquer the game.

But, there’s more to his eccentric habits. Talk about some weird warm-up routine and Skinner was once spotted practicing in a very odd manner. A strange warmup sequence where he seemingly just hovered near the puck without moving an inch of his body while the opposing goalie was locked into proper prep mode. The scene, caught on video, even amused the commentator’s confusion, who later questioned, “Do you think this is what it’s supposed to be?” Well, is it really the laces or the lack thereof? Here’s what the NHL fans had to say.

NHL fans blamed Stuart Skinner for the Oilers’ poor performance!

Fans are disappointed by Skinner’s barely tying his skates to pulling off strange warmup moves. And now that the Oilers lost another one against the Panthers, their emotions turned into anger. “Maybe that’s why he can’t save a puck,” one fan commented. Perhaps they can feel how brutal of a loss it was! And then someone wrote in a very short yet sharp manner– “We can tell.” As if they found the actual reason behind the goalie’s topsy-turvy performances and Edmonton’s losses.

But then someone just predicted something before the match. “I know Bennett gonna tie them hard asf when falls on him today,” they commented while joking or maybe jabbing around the pattern of scepticism that’s growing louder with every up-and-down performance of Stuart Skinner. And right after the game began and the Panthers led the game with a score, this one didn’t waste any time to add, “That why he couldn’t stop that muffin of a shot by Marchand.” This sounded like pure frustration!

And noting everything, one could make a possible conclusion for the goalie. They wrote, “Makes sense why he falls over so much now.” Whether it’s his lack of potential at the moment or these weird habits, fans are clearly disappointed with his performance and how it is affecting every crucial game Edmonton is playing for the Stanley Cup championship.