Oilers’ Kris Knoblauch hints at major lineup changes ahead of Game 5

On Friday morning as both the Florida Panthers and Edmonton Oilers were setting up to fly out of Miami and head back to Alberta for Game 5 on Saturday, both head coaches met with media members to discuss their respective lineup.

Oilers bench boss Kris Knoblauch pretty much acted like he had done for the past two games, keeping his cards close to his chest when it comes to revealing his official lineup.

He did however explained why defenseman Troy Stecher, who was re-inserted back in the lineup for Game 4 in place for John Klingberg, ended up with less than five minutes of ice-time. He made it clear that he wasn’t benched during Game 4 due to a high-sticking injury, but that it was a his decision to sit Stecher for the remainder of the game.

Stecher was on the ice for a team-low 4:18 minutes and was a minus-1.

While this was Stecher’s first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final, it feels like the Oilers could go back to Klingberg for Game 5.

When it comes to his starting goalie, Knoblauch once again refused to announce if it would be Stuart Skinner or Calvin Pickard to get the net for Game 5.

Skinner was pulled after the first period of Game 4 when the Oilers found themselves trailing 3-0 against the Panthers. Pickard took over and was in between the pipes when Leon Draisaitl scored the overtime winner as Edmonton defeated Florida 5-4 to even the best-of-seven title series 2-2.

Pickard is now 7-0 in these playoffs and could have his amazing stat lean in his favour to be the starter tomorrow night.

As for the Panthers, head coach Paul Maurice announced before flying out to Edmonton that he would use the same lineup as Game 4 for the contest on Saturday.

The Oilers are heading back home with the series tied at 2-2 and two of the remaining possible three games of the Stanley Cup Final set to be played in Edmonton.