Oilers turn back to Skinner in goal in must-win G6

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Edmonton Oilers, facing elimination against the Florida Panthers in Game 6 on Tuesday night, have flipped back to Stuart Skinner as their starting goalie.

Skinner was pulled in Games 3 and 4 in Florida and was benched in favor of backup Calvin Pickard in their Game 5 loss in Edmonton that gave the Panthers a 3-2 series lead.

"Feeling good coming into tonight. I definitely know that I have the confidence in my teammates and coaching staff," Skinner said after Edmonton's morning skate. "I think there's obviously a lot of belief here still."

Skinner was benched after the first period in Game 4, having given up three goals on 17 shots. Pickard stopped 22 of 23 shots as the Oilers won in overtime to even the Stanley Cup Final at 2-2. Pickard got the start in Game 5 in Edmonton, giving up four goals on 18 shots in a 5-2 loss, which put Florida in a position to raise their second straight Stanley Cup over the Oilers.

Skinner was also pulled in the third period of their Game 3 blowout loss in Florida after giving up five goals on 23 shots. He said it was hard watching Edmonton play from the bench over the past three games.

"My job is to stop the puck when I'm told to go in the net. Sometimes I get told that I'm not [in the net]. For sure, it's disappointing," Skinner said. "I've just got to stick to what my job is. [Those decisions] are over my pay grade. Whenever they tell me to go on the net, I'm definitely not going to say 'no.'"

Knoblauch said after Game 5 that "there's no fault at Calvin at all on any of those goals." But with their season on the line, the Oilers coach decided to go back to Skinner.

"Stu has been in a lot of high-pressure games. He's played really well," Knoblauch said. "We looked at the amount of elimination games he's played in. I think there were six last year. Every game that he played in, they were really solid if not spectacular performances. So, season on the line, we've got a lot of confidence in him."

Three of those elimination games came against the Panthers, who failed to close out Edmonton in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final after building a 3-0 series lead, needing to win in Game 7 to hoist the Cup for the first time as a franchise. Skinner was great in their Game 6 win in Edmonton, stopping 20 of 21 shots to force a winner-take-all game.

He's trying to repeat that feat one year later and extend the Stanley Cup Final to a seventh game back in Edmonton on Friday night.

"He's amazing in the playoffs and had incredible games this year. There's just a trust factor that we know that he can get the job done for us," Oilers star Leon Draisaitl said. "In Game 4, he was amazing in the first period. It was us that let him down. It doesn't seem fair, right? So, we have full belief in him."

Skinner, 26, was the Oilers' primary starter in the regular season with a 26-18-4 record in 51 games and was their starter to begin the first round against the Los Angeles Kings. But after giving up 11 goals in the first two games of the series, he was replaced as starter by 33-year-old backup Pickard, who has played for six NHL teams in 10 seasons. Pickard went 6-0 until an injury in the second round against Vegas gave Skinner the starting job again.

Overall, Pickard is 7-1 with a .886 save percentage and a 2.85 goals-against average. Skinner is 7-6 with a .891 save percentage and a 2.99 goals-against average.

In other Oilers lineup changes, defenseman John Klingberg draws in for defenseman Troy Stecher, while forward Kasperi Kapanen replaces winger Viktor Arvidsson up front.

The Panthers have struggled with closing out opponents over their past two runs to the Stanley Cup Final. They needed seven games to eliminate Edmonton last year. They lost Game 6 at home against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round and lost Game 4 at home in the Eastern Conference Final to Carolina. In both instances, they eliminated their opponent in the following game.

"We're going to have to do a great job of matching their desperation," defenseman Seth Jones said. "At the same time, we go into every series planning on playing seven games. We want to approach each game the same as the one before and that's what we're going to do tonight."