FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Connor Brown moves up, Corey Perry moves down. Troy Stecher and Jeff Skinner come in, John Klingberg and Viktor Arvidsson come out.
And Stuart Skinner starts in goal in a Game 4 — which is exactly what should happen when you look at Skinner’s numbers in career Game 4s played: a 6-0 record, a 1.26 goals against average, a .955 saves percentage and two shutouts.
Why is he so good in this particular game of a series?
“I’m not too sure. I’ve been getting a lot of texts about that,” mused Skinner after the morning skate. “I just think as series go on, I get better and better. I feel like I start to get a little bit more of a rhythm, and hopefully that continues.”
As for the other three moves that head coach Kris Knoblauch decided upon, anyone who follows this Oilers team knows that his feel for his lineup — when judged by the success he’s had in the past — is excellent.
History tells us that if Knoblauch thinks these changes are a good idea, there’s a pretty good chance he’s right.
“I just felt that we could use the change, have those guys come in and give us a boost,” the Oilers head coach said. “We’ve seen it throughout the playoffs where we’ve made alterations to our lineup and it’s benefitted us.”
This is a critical juncture in this series, with the Oilers coming off a 6-1 thrashing in Game 3. Again, history tells us they have the ability to bounce back — led by their top two players.
In playoff games immediately following a loss, Connor McDavid (1.83 points per game played) and Leon Draisaitl (1.50 P/GP) are proven producers. The only other players in NHL history averaging over 1.50 points per game following a playoff loss (minimum of 20 games played) are Mario Lemieux (1.92) and Wayne Gretzky (1.68).
As a whole, Edmonton feels like it’s been through enough of these situations to be ready for tonight.
“It’s all experience, right?” began Draisaitl. “You go through these this runs — last year where we were under pressure for a lot of games, even in the Vancouver series — and you just get comfortable in those situations. Knowing that you play one good game, you find a way to get a win on the road, and you go home and the series is tied.
“We know it’s going to be hard. They’ve (Florida) got the same plan over there. But with experience, you just learn that in these moments all you need is one game right now.”
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The Forsling factor
Much is made of Selke champ Aleksander Barkov’s task of shutting down Connor McDavid, but last change at home also affords coach Paul Maurice the opportunity to pit Gustav Forsling against the fastest show on skates.
Forsling & Co. have kept McDavid off the scoresheet in three of the five Final games in Sunrise over the last two years; they’ve kept him from scoring in four of five.
Where does Forsling rank among all shutdown defenders?
“Oh, man, he’s up there,” Seth Jones raved. “One of the best defensive sticks in the league that I’ve ever seen really close up. Not overly physical, but a great skater, great defensive awareness. He’s got a good shot as well. I think his offensive game is pretty underrated. He doesn’t get the special-teams time to really inflate those numbers. But he’s got some great sticks on some of their top players — not just in this series, but throughout the playoffs. He really stifles guys.”
The quiet, businesslike Forsling hopes to celebrate his 29th birthday with a win.
“He’s so fit, so strong, and he can skate like the wind,” Carter Verhaeghe said. “I wouldn’t want to play against him. He closes his gap so quick and doesn’t allow you to have really any space out there. You get the puck, your head’s up, and he’s on you.”
Projected line
Nugent-Hopkins – McDavid – BrownKane – Draisaitl – KapanenSkinner – Frederic – HenriquePodkolzin – Janmark – Perry
Ekholm – BouchardNurse – KlingbergKulak – Walman
Skinner
Meanwhile, Florida is coming off its most dominant performance of the series. Don’t fix what ain’t broke. The Panthers lineup stays as is:
Verhaeghe – Barkov – ReinhartRodrigues – Bennett – TkachukLuostarinen – Lundell – MarchandGreer – Nosek – Gadjovich
Forsling – EkbladMikkola – JonesSchmidt – Kulikov
Bobrovsky
A Stech In time
Troy Stecher is a bit like comfort food for the Oilers’ blue line.
When things get a bit wonky, in he comes to settle down the group. Maybe provide a little boost.
“You’ve seen it — I’ve done it all year,” said Stecher, an under-sized defenceman out of Richmond B.C., who played 66 games for Edmonton this season — but just six so far in the playoffs. “Everything’s a little bit magnified, but at the end of the day it’s just another game. I know what makes me a successful player. I know what adds to our group, and now it’s my responsibility to go there and do that.
“I play pretty simple games: advancing pucks, compete as hard as I can and try to add an energy to our group that way.”
You’ll recall Stecher moving aside when Mattias Ekholm became healthy enough to re-join the Oilers lineup in Round 3.
”He’s a better player than me. That’s just the reality,” Stecher said at the time.
Now he’s back in, and he’s ready to resume his role as a steadying force.
“I play a simple and steady game,” he said. “I don’t do anything great, I don’t make a lot of mistakes, and I feel like they know what to expect out of me every night. More than anything, I’ve just embraced my role as an individual player trying to add to this team.
“Do I want to play every night? Of course, but it’s not my decision. You’ve got to be the best teammate you can be, and that’s coming to the rink and working as hard as you can and being prepared for when your number does get called.”
Game puck for Gadjovich
Jonah Gadjovich skated just 6:26 in Game 3’s 6-1 blowout before getting booted out of the game. He didn’t register a point and wasn’t even a plus player.
Yet when the dust settled and Brad Marchand was tasked with handing out with the 14th game puck to stuff in the 16-hole board, the veteran turned to the bearded one with a bro hug: “This guy’s a (bleeping) animal! Gadjy!”
Gadjovich went toe-to-toe with Darnell Nurse in an epic scrap.
“Biggest stage. The finals,” Gadjovich smiled. “I was tired as heck. It was nice to get to the box and sit down for a few seconds. And then when we got the boot, definitely had to catch my breath in the room and get someone to get me a cold drink.
“We were both going to keep going until (an official) got in there. But I remember at one point I was kind of like looking around. I didn’t see anyone. All right, just gotta keep throwing.”
Yes, Gadjovich was a member of the 2024 championship roster, but the fourth-liner didn’t play a playoff shift during the championship run. He’s lapping up every second of his first NHL post-season, mocking the competition, chipping in a couple goals, and going viral by sticking out his tongue.
“Oh, yeah, it’s pretty funny. I definitely saw that a lot online the next day, a lot of texts with that,” Gadjovich said. “I’m just having fun, man.”
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