Stuart Skinner's first playoff win this season a 3-0 shutout for Edmonton Oilers

Stuart Skinner had faith in himself, if others didn't.

The goaltender's first win of this year's NHL playoffs was a 3-0 shutout Monday for the Edmonton Oilers, who take a 3-1 lead in their second-round series against the Golden Knights to Las Vegas with a chance to close it out Wednesday.

Skinner's 23 saves were an integral piece of Edmonton's most complete game of the post-season.

"It felt great," Skinner said. "All I can really say is thanks to the guys playing in front of me. They were amazing tonight. Made my job a lot easier.

"They were battling, a lot of blocked shots. The way that we played defensively was superb."

It was Skinner's second start after a performance-induced hiatus in the playoffs.

The 26-year-old from Edmonton was pulled in the second game of the first-round series when the Los Angeles Kings had scored 11 goals on him over five and a half periods.

Calvin Pickard and the Oilers won six in a row before Pickard was injured in Game 2 in Las Vegas, where Tomas Hertl landed on his left leg in the third period.

Pickard hasn't been seen on the ice since and thus doesn't seem close to a return soon. Much of the Oilers' playoff fortunes will ride on their regular-season starter for the foreseeable future.

The Oilers were 6-0 with Pickard and 0-3 with Skinner heading into Monday's game.

"Numbers don't really matter, especially in playoffs," Skinner said. "But the biggest thing is just trying to give your team a chance to win.

"If you let in five and it's a 5-5 game going in OT, you're giving your team a chance to win, so honestly, it doesn't really bother me."

Skinner made some important saves in Edmonton's 4-3 loss in Game 3, but was the target of social-media criticism for his part in the Golden Knights'