Oilers May Make Lineup Changes Before Game 4 of Cup Final

One would think that after Monday’s debacle in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, Edmonton Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch would be putt his players through extra drills or at least a couple more video sessions.

Knoblauch did hold a practice in Fort Lauderdale the day after their 6-1 meltdown to the Florida Panthers — but Wednesday was an off day for the Oilers.

Hopefully, for their sake, they didn’t absorb too much South Florida sunshine.

Knoblauch did his due diligence and pledged a few changes for tonight’s resumption of hostilities, but the full extent of the changes will not be known until this morning’s skate.

Maybe come game time.

Knoblauch hinted, but would not commit to a possible change of goaltenders.

While Stuart Skinner certainly can’t be blamed for the back-to-back losses, he was shaky at times and probably sees images of Brad Marchand and Sam Bennett in his sleep.

Marchand and Bennett have touched him for four goals each already, and Bennett was an unwelcome visitor to his crease.

Skinner has been brilliant at times and erratic other times.

Calvin Pickard is 6-0 in the playoffs although his save percentage is only .888 and has not played since Round 2 against Vegas aside for some mop-up duty in the fight-filled third on Monday.

Skinner is not much better at .894; In the three games of the Final his percentage is .866.

When pressed at yesterday’s media session Knoblauch was mum.

“We will have likely a lineup change. We haven’t confirmed that,’’ he said. “We haven’t discussed that with our players yet but there are some things we’ve been thinking about, and there may be a lineup change.”

The fact that he spoke more of Pickard than of Skinner might have been a clue.

“Calvin was playing really well but … we’ve always felt confident in Calvin,’’ Knoblaugh said. “Calvin’s always been a guy who’s been a guy that’s been able to come in and give us good, quality starts.”

Knoblauch had equally complimentary words for defenseman Troy Stecher, which meant he may be returning to the lineup replacing veteran John Klingberg who made some costly turnovers.

Klingberg signed with Edmonton in January for defensive depth. He had been out for an extended period after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery. This is the same procedure that Ed Jovanovski had in an attempt to extend his career.

Knoblauch praised Klingberg’s play in the playoffs but also cited the need for depth and expressed his confidence in bringing Stecher back into the lineup.

“Troy’s been very valuable to our team, through regular season, playoffs,’’ Knoblaugh said. “One thing we as a coaching staff appreciate a lot from Troy is just 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 not making mistakes. As a defenseman that’s really important.”

The remaining uncertainty is whether Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will remain in the lineup or be replaced by Jeff Skinner. Nugent-Hopkins is nursing an undisclosed injury and did not practice Tuesday.

As for Florida, no lineup changes are anticipated and the approach to the game will be as is it is just another game.

Of course it is not. 

With a win, the Panthers would take a 3-1 series lead back to Edmonton for Game 5 with the Stanley Cup in the building ready to be handed out.

 “We certainly won’t change anything for this game,’’ Bennett said Wednesday. “I think our approach has been pretty similar the entire playoffs. Whether it’s Game 1 or Game 7 we play the same style. We play just as hard.

“We’re not sitting back, so we really are not going to be changing anything in this next game or any other games to come.”

The boys on both teams probably got the crankiness out of their systems.

Look for a close contest more like the first two games.

2025 STANLEY CUP FINAL

GAME 4

EDMONTON OILERS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS

Florida Leads Best-of-7 Series 2-1

• When: Thursday, 8 p.m.
• Where: Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise
• National TV: TNT/truTV 
• National Streaming: Max
• Radio: WQAM 560-AM; WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys), SiriusXM
• Radio Streaming: SiriusXM, NHL App
• Series Schedule (all games at 8 p.m., TNT) — Game 1: @Edmonton 4, Florida 3 (OT); Game 2: Florida 5, @Edmonton 4 (2OT); Game 3: @Florida 6, Edmonton 1; Game 4: @Florida, Thursday; Game 5: @Edmonton Saturday; Game 6*: @Florida, Tuesday June 17; Game 7*: @Edmonton, Friday June 20.
• How They Got Here: Edmonton d. Los Angeles (6), Vegas (5), Dallas (5); Florida d. Tampa Bay (5), Toronto (7), Carolina (5)
• Postseason History: Florida Won 2024 Stanley Cup Final 4-3
• Regular Season: Panthers won 2-0
• All-time Regular Season Series: Oilers lead 23-18-0, 3 ties