Oilers Make Massive Lineup Change In Do-Or-Die Game 6
Stuart Skinner will be back between the pipes for the Oilers on Thursday
The Edmonton Oilers' backs are against the wall on Thursday night with the team needing a win to force a series-deciding Game 7 back in Alberta.
However, head coach Kris Knoblauch has been left with an unenviable decision to make, and that's who to start between the pipes.
Coming into the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers starter was Stuart Skinner, who had played well through the conference final. However, he was completely lit up in Game 3 and again in Game 4, which led to Edmonton pulling him and putting in well-traveled backup netminder Calvin Pickard.
While his numbers aren't exactly pretty — .885 save percentage and a 2.85 GAA — Pickard was 7-0 this postseason, until Game 5, which the Oilers dropped at home by a score of 5-2, with Pickard giving up 4 goals on just 18 shots.
So… what do you do in this situation? Typically, you ride the hot hand, which, going into Game 5, looked to be Pickard after he played well coming off the bench, but now?
It's a tough one, but I think most people would lean toward giving Skinner another shot.
Well, that's just what they're doing with Skinner himself confirming this before the game.
It has been tough sledding for Oilers goalies this series, but I think they're taking more of the blame than they're probably due. For instance, in Games 3 and 5, they weren't getting a whole lot of offensive support, and, in fact, Connor McDavid only scored his first goal of the season in Game 5.
If their goaltending is going to be streaky, then the offense needs to be cooking non-stop, and that hasn't been the case.
The Oilers dug themselves out of a three-game hole to force Game 7 last year, and I think winning the next two games will be just as tough.
First, they'll need to steal another one from the Panthers in Sunrise, but then they head back to Edmonton, which would normally be a good thing, but the Panthers are one of the best road playoff teams in recent memory.
Can they come from behind to win the Stanley Cup? Sure.
Will it be easy? Absolutely not.