Stecher in for Klingberg on defense, forward Jeff Skinner enters for Arvidsson
© Andy Devlin/NHLI
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Troy Stecher and Jeff Skinner will enter the lineup for the Edmonton Oilers for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
Edmonton trails 2-1 in the best-of-7 series after a 6-1 loss in Game 3 on Monday.
Stecher, a defenseman, has played in six of their 19 postseason games. He does not have a point and is plus-3 while averaging 15:57 of ice time.
“Troy’s been very valuable to our team through the regular season and playoffs,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said Wednesday. “I think probably one thing we as a coaching staff appreciate a lot from Troy is how dependable he is. No matter if he’s playing big minutes, regularly, hasn’t played for a long period of time, anytime we’ve needed him, he’s given us really good minutes and usually is not making mistakes. As a defenseman, that’s really important.”
Stecher is expected to replace defenseman John Klingberg, who has four points (one goal, three assists) and is plus-2 in 18 playoff games. Klingberg had a costly turnover in Game 3 that led to Sam Reinhart’s goal at 3:00 of the second period to make it 3-1.
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Klingberg also had a turnover in overtime of Game 2 on Friday that nearly led to a goal. Florida eventually won 5-4 in double overtime.
“John’s been great through the playoffs; he’s got us through a lot of runs, we wouldn’t have gotten through those rounds without the contributions that he made,” Knoblauch said. “At this time of the year, you want depth. You know there’s going to be injuries and things that you have to change up to your lineup.”
Skinner, a forward, will enter for Viktor Arvidsson. He has one goal and one assist in two playoff games and has not played since scoring a goal in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final, a 6-3 win against the Dallas Stars on May 29.
Stuart Skinner will start in goal in Game 4. He has allowed 13 goals on 97 shots through the first three games of the Final (3.74 goals-against average, .866 save percentage) and was pulled from Game 3 after allowing five goals on 23 shots.
Calvin Pickard stopped seven of eight in relief after entering at 3:27 of the third period. He is 6-0 this postseason with a 2.87 GAA and an .888 save percentage.
Pickard won four straight games in the Western Conference First Round against the Los Angeles Kings after getting the start in Game 3. He then the first two games of the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights but sustained a lower body injury in a 5-4 overtime win in Game 2.
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“Calvin was playing really well, but I think we’ve always felt confident in Calvin,” Knoblauch said. “Calvin has always been a guy that’s been able to come in and give us good, quality starts, whether he’s going back to back, (but) he hasn’t gone back to back very much.
“Last year, I don’t think there were any games back to back until the playoffs that (Pickard) played; this year, he was getting in back to back later in the year when ‘Stu’ was hurt, and then obviously the six games that he played in the playoffs he did tremendously well.”
FLA vs. EDM
FLA vs. CAR | EDM vs. DAL
FLA vs. TOR | CAR vs. WSH | DAL vs. WPG | EDM vs. VGK
OTT vs. TOR | FLA vs. TBL | MTL vs. WSH | NJD vs. CAR
STL vs. WPG | COL vs. DAL | MIN vs. VGK | EDM vs. LAK
