Oilers to start Pickard in net for G5 vs. Panthers

EDMONTON, Alberta -- The Edmonton Oilers person named goalie Calvin Pickard arsenic their starter for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, replacing Stuart Skinner.

Pickard, 33, replaced Skinner aft helium was pulled successful the 3rd play of their Game 3 blowout loss astatine the Florida Panthers and again erstwhile Skinner was pulled aft the archetypal play of Game 4, having fixed up 3 goals connected 17 shots. Pickard made 18 consecutive saves earlier Florida's Sam Reinhart sent the crippled to overtime with a extremity astatine 19:40 the 3rd period. He ended up stopping 22 of 23 shots arsenic the Oilers won successful overtime to adjacent the bid astatine 2-2.

"I conjecture you could look astatine contiguous arsenic the biggest crippled successful my life, but the past crippled was the biggest crippled successful my beingness until the adjacent one. It's rinse and repetition for me," said Pickard, who has played for six NHL teams during his 10-year NHL career. "It's been a large journey. I've been a batch of bully places. Grateful that I had the accidental to travel to Edmonton a mates years ago, and this is what you play for."

Pickard has made his lawsuit to beryllium the Oilers' starter this postseason. He took implicit the Edmonton crease for an ineffective Skinner successful the archetypal circular against the Los Angeles Kings, and went 6-0 until an wounded successful their second-round bid against Vegas gave Skinner the starting occupation again.

With Pickard's triumph successful Game 5, he's conscionable the 4th goalie successful Stanley Cup Playoffs past to triumph astatine slightest 7 consecutive playoff decisions aft not starting their team's opening playoff game. Overall, Pickard has made 9 appearances with a .896 prevention percent and a 2.69 goals-against average.

But it wasn't an casual telephone to seat Skinner for the Oilers.

"I don't deliberation Stu was astatine responsibility astatine each for immoderate of the goals the different night," said Oilers skipper Connor McDavid. "I deliberation it was conscionable a unfortunate of condition and Picks came successful and gave america a chance."

Coach Kris Knoblauch said that it wasn't automatic that Pickard would start, particularly considering Skinner's past of playing his champion hockey arsenic bid went deeper.

"We've got 2 bully goaltenders. Stu has travel successful and played immoderate truly large games, particularly aboriginal successful the series," said Knoblauch. "But I deliberation the deciding origin for america was we won the erstwhile crippled and Picks made a batch of large saves."

Skinner and Pickard are lone the 2nd goalie tandem successful NHL past to some person astatine slightest 7 victories successful a azygous Stanley Cup Playoff run, joining Marc-Andre Fleury (9 wins) and Matt Murray (7) from the champion 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins.

This goalie swap for the Oilers is highly uncommon successful Stanley Cup Final history. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the past lawsuit of aggregate goalies connected a Cup-winning squad signaling decisions successful the Final - without a reported wounded crushed - was erstwhile the Bruins alternated betwixt Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston successful 1972 Final. Cheevers started Game 1 and the clincher successful that series.

Pickard has a batch of fans successful the Edmonton locker country for the mode helium carries himself connected and disconnected the ice.

"I conjecture you'd accidental he's 1 of the uncommon goalies that's conscionable a mean guy," said guardant Evander Kane. "Really fashionable feline successful the room. He's been doing this for a agelong time, helium has a ton of acquisition and been successful a batch of antithetic dressing rooms. That tin assistance you on erstwhile you bash travel connected to antithetic teams, making a small spot of an easier transition. Now you're conscionable seeing that off-ice construe connected to the crystal with his performance."

The lone different lineup alteration for Edmonton saw winger Viktor Arvidsson replacing Kasperi Kapanen astatine forward.

The Oilers volition effort to instrumentality a bid pb against 1 of the champion roadworthy playoff teams successful NHL past successful the Panthers.

Florida is 9-3 connected the roadworthy successful the playoffs. One much triumph distant from location would necktie the single-season grounds for roadworthy victories, shared by six teams and astir precocious tied by the champion 2019 St. Louis Blues. No squad successful Stanley Cup Playoffs past has scored much connected the roadworthy (56 goals) than these Panthers have.

"I've noticed that the benignant of crippled that we play travels. I don't deliberation we don't alteration thing based connected whether we're location oregon away. First change, past change, thing similar that. Our crippled is precise direct," said defenseman Seth Jones. "It's elemental and it's carnal hockey and it's fast. So we don't request to alteration thing connected the road, conscionable get to our crippled a small quicker."

Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final is acceptable for 8 p.m. ET connected Saturday night. When a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final is tied 2-2, the victor of Game 5 has won 73% of the series.