Greg Wyshynskijun 14, 2025, 02:12 PM ET
Closegreg Wyshynski is a senior NHL writer at ESPN.
Edmonton, Alberta — The Oilers have replaced Stuart Skinner and nominated goalkeeper Calvin Picard as the starter for Game 5 in the Stanley Cup final.
Picard, 33, replaced Skinner, who was pulled in the third period of blowout losses in game 3 with the Florida Panthers, then supplanted Skinner after the first period of Game 4, giving up three goals on 17 shots. Picard made 18 straight saves before Florida’s Sam Reinhardt sent the game overtime at 7:40 in the third term. He stopped 22 of his 23 shots as the Oilers won the series 2-2 in overtime.
“I think today can be considered the biggest game of my life, but the last game was the biggest game of my life up to the next game. It’s rinsing and repeating,” said Pickard, who played for six NHL teams in his 10-year career. “It was a great trip. I was a lot of good places and I’m grateful for the opportunity to come to Edmonton a few years ago.
Picard claimed he would be the Oilers starter this postseason. He took over Edmonton’s crease in the first round against King Los Angeles, going 6-0 until a second round injury against the Vegas Golden Knights gave Skinner a job again.
Picard’s victory in Game 5 made him the fourth goalkeeper in Stanley Cup playoff history and won at least seven straight postseason decisions after not starting the team’s opening playoff game. Overall, Pickard is a nine-time contestant in these playoffs, with a save percentage of .896 and a goal (average) of 2.69.
Editor’s Pick
2 Related
But that wasn’t a simple call to bench Skinner for the Oilers.
“Stu doesn’t think it’s a complete negligence at all with any goal the other night,” Oilers captain Conor McDavid said. “I think it was just a victim of the situation and the pick came in and gave us a chance.”
Director Kris Knoblauch said that Picard would not be automatic for him to start, especially considering Skinner’s history of playing his best hockey when the series gets deeper.
“We have two great goaltenders. Stu came in and we played some really big games, especially later in the series,” Knoblauch said. “But I think the crucial factor for us is that we won previous games and picks made a lot of big saves.”
Skinner and Picard are the second goalkeeper tandems in NHL history, both of whom have won at least seven times in one playoff run, joining 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins champions Mark Andre Fleury (9 wins) and Matt Murray (7).
This goalkeeper swap for the Oilers is extremely rare in the final history of the Stanley Cup. According to ESPN Research, the final instance of multiple goalkeepers regarding the decision of a Cup-winning team that recorded a Cup-winning team with no reported reason for injury was alternating between Jerry Cheever and Eddie Johnston in 1972 by the Boston Bruins.
Picard has many fans in the locker room in Edmonton and he has a way of carrying himself on the ice.
“You think he’s one of those rare goalkeepers who are just ordinary guys,” Forward Evander Kane said. “A really popular guy in the room. He’s been doing this for a long time. He’s had a lot of experience and is in different dressing rooms. It helps you when you come to different teams.
In Edmonton’s only other lineup change, winger Victor Alvidson replaced Kasperi Kapanen.
The Oilers are trying to take a series lead against one of the Panthers’ best road playoff teams in NHL history.
Florida is 9-3 on the road in the playoffs. Another victory will tie the single season record of road victory shared by six teams and recently tied together by the 2019 St. Louis Blues. Teams in the Stanley Cup playoff history have never scored on more roads (56 goals) than these Panthers have.
“I’ve noticed that the style of the game we play has been noticed by the style of travel. I don’t think anything will change based on whether we’re at home or away. The first change, the last change, that’s what we’re like. Our game is very direct.” “It’s simple, physical hockey, it’s fast. So we don’t need to change anything on the road. We don’t have to get to the game a little faster.”
Game 5 is set at 8pm on Saturdays. The winner of Game 5 won 73% of the series when the Stanley Cup final of Best of Seven tied 2-2.
