The Florida Panthers have won two straight games in the Stanley Cup Final.
A third straight win on Thursday night, when they host the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, would give Florida a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven championship series.
While Florida comes in with a fully healthy roster and plenty of confidence, things are a bit more fluid on the Edmonton side.
Oilers Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said on Wednesday that there would probably be a lineup change for Game 4, but did not elaborate on who he was considering taking out.
That potential move apparently did not include forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury that had him a game-time decision for Game 3.
Nugent-Hopkins will carry the same GTD label into Thursday, where he’ll be evaluated prior to the game before Knoblauch and his staff make a final judgement.
Knoblauch also said that there had not been a decision yet on who would start in goal for Edmonton.
Stuart Skinner struggled in Game 3, allowing five goals on 23 shots before being pulled 3:27 into the third period.
So far during the Stanley Cup Final, Skinner has given up 13 goals on 97 shots, good for an underwhelming save percentage of .866. and a goals against average of 4.22.
If Skinner doesn’t start, Calvin Pickard would get the nod.
Pickard replaced Skinner back in round one against the Los Angeles Kings after the latter 11 goals on 58 shots during the first two games of the playoffs, both losses by Edmonton.
Pickard came in and won his next six starts for the Oilers before he was injured and Skinner was summoned back into the crease.
To be fair, while Pickard holds a 6-0 record for Edmonton this postseason, his corresponding statistics are underwhelming to say the least, with a goals against average of 2.87 and save percentage at .888.
Skinner’s play significantly improved after he became the starter again, so we’ll see if Knoblauch sticks with the guy who got the Oilers through the second and third rounds against Vegas and Dallas, respectively.
As for Florida, it’s likely Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice will roll with the same lineup that ww saw play pretty well in Game 3.
Here are the Panthers projected lines and pairings for Game 4 against the Oilers.
Carter Verhaeghe – Sasha Barkov – Sam Reinhart
Evan Rodrigues – Sam Bennett – Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen – Anton Lundell – Brad Marchand
A.J. Greer – Tomas Nosek – Jonah Gadjovich
Gus Forsling – Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola – Seth Jones
Nate Schmidt – Dmitry Kulikov
Scratches: Mackie Samoskevich, Uvis Balinskis, Jesper Boqvist, Nico Sturm, Jaycob Megna
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS – FLORIDA
Sound meter hit ridiculously high level when Sam Bennett scored during Game 3 of Stanley Cup Final
Rod Brind’Amour doesn’t agree with Paul Maurice, will go back to participating in playoff handshake lines
Paul Maurice Makes History In Panthers’ Game 3 Win
Oilers’ Walman fined $10K as Panthers stayed cool amid fight-filled Game 3
Three takeaways: Fights, penalties take over Game 3, Ekblad shines in Panthers rout of Oilers
Photo caption: Jun 9, 2025; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad (5) celebrates scoring during the third period against the Edmonton Oilers in game three of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro-Imagn Images)
Read the full article here