Knoblauch not ready to reveal Game 4 starter; RNH misses practice
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Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch declined to name his starting goaltender for Game 4 after pulling Stuart Skinner in Monday's blowout loss to the Florida Panthers.
Knoblauch said the team will decide closer to Thursday's puck drop who will start but added he chalks up the 6-1 loss to team-wide breakdowns and does not blame Skinner.
Skinner allowed five goals on 23 shots in Monday's loss before being replaced by Calvin Pickard. His .783 save percentage was his worst mark of the postseason.
Pickard, who backstopped the Oilers to six straight wins before suffering an injury in the second-round, allowed one goal on eight shots in his first game action since May 8.
Skinner, 26, has a 7-6 record this spring with a .894 save percentage and a 2.84 goals-against average. Pickard, 33, is 6-0 this postseason with a .888 save percentage and a 2.87 GAA.
Nugent-Hopkins misses practice
The Edmonton Oilers made no changes to their forward lines and defence pairs in practice on Tuesday.
The lone change from the ugly 6-1 Game 3 loss was the absence of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who logged 15:34 of ice time of ice time Monday after being a game-time decision prior to puck drop.
Jeff Skinner, who has dressed in two games this postseason, skated as a placeholder in Nugent-Hopkins' spot.
The Oilers originally planned to take Tuesday but changed their plans after Monday's performance. Now trailing 2-1 in the Stanley Cup Final, Edmonton will take an off day on Wednesday before holding a gameday skate ahead of Game 4 on Thursday.
Following Monday's loss, Knoblauch called for every player to step up their game with the team at risk of falling into a 3-1 hole on the road.
“Collectively, goaltender, defense, all our forwards, we all have to be better,” Knoblauch said. "They played a heck of a game, and we’re going to have to raise ours.”
Star centre Connor McDavid said the Oilers have yet to play their best through three games.
“It was a weird game,” McDavid said. “Obviously it wasn’t our best — not our best at all. I don’t think our best has shown up all series long. But it’s coming. We’ll shift the focus to finding a way to get a win in Game 4.”
“We didn’t play very well,” forward Evander Kane added. "That’s evident. We have nobody to blame but ourselves. We can definitely be a lot better.”
Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final is set for Sunday in Edmonton.