Skinner or Pickard? Edmonton Oilers have made goalie decision for Game 6
The Edmonton Oilers have made one of the most important starting goalie decisions in Stanley Cup Final history.
With the Florida Panthers one win away from a second-straight Stanley Cup victory and the Oilers desperately trying to stay alive, controversy was swirling around Edmonton’s net. The team had run journeyman backup Calvin Pickard in Game 5 to disastrous results, but Stuart Skinner has been pulled in two straight starts in both Game 3 and Game 4.
Going into this do-or-die Game 6, Oilers’ head coach Kris Knoblauch was keeping his starting goalie a secret, but we now know the answer. Edmonton will be going back to Skinner tonight.
The Edmonton native confirmed with reporters this morning that he will get the nod.
“It’s huge, feeling good coming into the night,” Skinner said. “Definitely know I have the confidence of my teammates and coaching staff.
“I think there is a lot of belief still.”
#Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner & forward Leon Draisaitl spoke with the media in Florida ahead of tonight's Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/IoVdviJKJf
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) June 17, 2025
Going back to Skinner is the right call. He is the de facto starting goaltender for the Oilers and hasn’t even looked all that bad in his last two outings. Sure, he was pulled in those games, but that was more of a result of the team playing awful in front of him. There was a good possibility that the Panthers could have scored five or six goals in the first period of Game 4, but he kept them to three.
Stu also has a much higher ceiling than Pickard does, and he has sufficient experience coming in and playing with his back against the wall. Remember, he helped the Oilers stave off elimination three separate times against the Panthers last season. He only needs to do it twice this season to win the Stanley Cup.
Edmonton typically plays its best hockey when they have everything to lose, and they will need to do that once again if they want to force a Game 7 on home ice this Friday.