It was said in the regular season when the Edmonton Oilers looked to be trailing further and further away from their goal of making it to back-to-back Stanley Cup finals, and their even bigger goal of winning one.
It was one of, if not their biggest, needs heading into the trade deadline.
And now that a do-or-die game six of the Stanley Cup final in the Florida Panthers’ barn rolls around, it’s become their biggest issue.
The Oilers don’t have a Stanley Cup goaltender.
Two salt-of-the-Earth backup goaltenders in the regular season who occasionally win games? Absolutely, but that’s not how Stanley Cups are won.
It shouldn’t be how a team gets within two games of a Stanley Cup, but here we are, and where do we go from here?
That’s the question Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch has been pondering for two days while evading questions over who his starter is, and laments that both Calvin Pickard and Stuart Skinner can win games.
“It’s not an easy decision,” began Knoblauch. “We feel that no matter who we choose, we have two goalies that can win the game.”
“The pressure’s not on them to make every single save to keep us close, or keep us ahead. It’d be nice to get some goal support, and (game five) was a case where we were having difficulty generating offence. But overall, I thought we limited the opportunities, the qualities we’re good, so we don’t blame Calvin on those.
“I think Picks didn’t have much chance on those goals and breakaways. There’s nothing saying that he had a poor performance. So that’s what I see from him now.”
Perhaps.
But as the Oilers forget about game five and look to the most important game of the season today, Knoblauch and the Oilers have decided to start Skinner in net.
Some positives: Skinner has faced (and won) the pressure that comes from a game-six elimination and elimination games on the road in the Stanley Cup final—1-1 in that regard.
Skinner has often come back from being pulled and has exhibited some unreal performances since—three shutouts this playoffs.
Some negatives: Sergei Bobrovsky has had an excellent performance in the 2025 Stanley Cup final, and the Oilers’ defence made things harder, not easier, for their goaltender.
“I’m feeling good heading into tonight, I’ve got confidence in my teammates, and there’s a lot of belief tonight,” according to Skinner.
It’s easier to feel good about your performance if you feel you haven’t had a bad one yet.
“This might sound weird, but I felt like I played well, but sometimes (getting pulled) happens. That’s just life, especially as a goalie. The process afterwards is just forgetting about it. I wasn’t able to for a little bit, I was a little frustrated.
“But there’s not much time to soak on it in this league, especially in the finals.”
Finally, something we can all get on board with.
There is no changing the Oilers’ questionable goaltending predicament; there is only getting on board with it.
It’s time to move past denial and run, not walk, towards acceptance.
There may not be a Sergei Bobrovsky between the pipes for the Oilers, or a Sam Bennet, Brad Marchand, Mathew Tkachuk, Carter Verhage, and others to taunt the opposing team, but there’s still desperation.
The Oilers’ tried and true.
There’s no runway after tonight if things go south, and the Oilers know that.
If Skinner can’t keep them alive, maybe that will.
“Stu’s been in a lot of high-pressure games,” began Knoblauch. “You look at the amount of elimination games he’s played, I think six last year, every single game he’s played in were really solid, if not spectacular performances.”
Edmonton Oilers expected lineup:
RNH – McDavid – Perry
Kane – Draisaitl – Kapanen
J. Skinner – Henrique – Frederic
Podkolzin – Janmark – Brown
Ekholm – Bouchard
Nurse – Kulak
Walman – Klingberg
S. Skinner
Pickard
Max Jones filled in for RNH during the Oilers’ morning skate.
