This evening Stuart Skinner addressed how he deals with the pressure of being a starting goalie during the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a new interview. The Edmonton Oilers head into another NHL season as one of the favorites to take home the Stanley Cup. Over the last two seasons, the Oilers have made a pair of Stanley Cup Finals appearances but have fallen just short both times losing to the Florida Panthers. In both finals runs, the Oilers have struggled to find consistent goaltending as Stuart Skinner has had his ups and downs in production throughout his entire career in the NHL. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/bigheadhcky/status/1926109657556308419'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/bob_stauffer/status/1658511158494494729'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> With these struggles has come frustration and anger from fans and media who cover and follow the Oilers directed at Skinner. Tonight, Skinner addressed that frustration and how he deals with the pressure of performing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. <h3>Stuart Skinner Opens Up On Dealing With Playoff Struggles</h3> During a sit down <a href='https://www.sportsnet.ca/podcasts/32-thoughts/' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>interview with Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas on the 32 Thoughts Podcast</a> Skinner was asked about how he stays mentally level headed while facing such high pressure. First, Skinner mentions that the NHL is a league that demands players show up each and every single night even in spite of outside circumstances. Right of the bat you learn that it's an every day league. You have to show up the same way and be committed to playing your best every single day despite the situation. He then talks about having to block out noise sometimes even from within to remain confident and push past roadblocks especially in big moments. For an example, the playoffs things were going well and then the series is tied 2-2 and you're not playing the next day. Being in that situation still doing your own thing despite what anyone else thinks including your teammates sometimes you have to be strong to stick to what you know. Finally, Skinner admits the most difficult part of dealing with the pressure is the balancing act of feeling and managing emotions while knowing when to put things aside and block everything out. Those are some heavy distractions that can be tough to overcome. I think sometimes the most difficult thing is being a person and having these emotions and then being able to put them aside when it's go time. It seems Skinner has done a lot of reflection this offseason to allow himself to be more consistent and now it will be up to him to show he can be the number one goalie the Oilers need to finally capture the Stanley Cup.