Panthers to face Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard in Game 5 of Stanley Cup Final

David Furones, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Jun 14, 2025

Published in Hockey

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EDMONTON, Alberta — The Florida Panthers had seen Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard in relief in each of the previous two games.

On Saturday, for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final with the series tied at 2, Pickard will start in place of Stuart Skinner for the Oilers.

Pickard was revealed to get the start as he was in the starter’s net at the Oilers’ morning skate Saturday at Rogers Place. While an expected move, Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch declined to reveal a starter on Friday.

“It’s exciting,” Pickard said Saturday. “Good opportunity for me, obviously. It feels like another game for me.”

Pickard, who started 31 games in the regular season, is 7-0 in the playoffs with a 2.69 goals against average.

“It wasn’t an easy call,” Knoblauch said. “We’ve got two good goaltenders. … The deciding factor for us was we won the previous game and (Pickard) made a lot of big saves.”

He seemed to provide a lift when he entered Thursday night’s 5-4 come-from-behind Game 4 win for Edmonton, as the Oilers outscored the Panthers, 5-1, after trailing 3-0 when he was inserted at first intermission. Pickard’s only goal surrendered was the one from Sam Reinhart that tied Game 4 with 19.5 seconds left in regulation to send it to overtime.

“I don’t think I noticed the impact on it,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said Friday of any boost the change could provide Oilers skaters. “I think he made some saves, for sure, as I thought that Skinner had. We certainly don’t have a different playbook for goalies.”

Skinner had a rough stretch since giving up the game-winning goal in double overtime in Game 2 to Brad Marchand. He allowed five of Florida’s six goals in a landslide Game 3 win for the Panthers, pulled at second intermission that night, and then surrendered the first three Thursday before the move again to Pickard.