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Stu Skinner gets Edmonton Oilers' net back for must-win Game 6
Playoff Game Day 2.6: Vancouver at Edmonton The decision has been made, and not all fans of the Edmonton Oilers are going to like it: Coach Kris Knoblauch is turning back to his #1 goaltender, Stuart Skinner, for the biggest game of the season. Skinner has had his struggles in the postseason for the second year in a row, especially in the current Vancouver series. He played the first 8 periods, allowing 12 goals on just 58 shots for a miserable .793 save percentage. Backup Calvin Pickard mopped up in Game 3, then played the entirety of Games 4 and 5 as the two teams split a pair of 3-2 decisions. Pickard was solid in both games, indeed in the eyes of many he was the reason the Canucks did not win by a much more comfortable margin in Game 5 on what was a rough night for the Oilers skaters. It was, however, the first time he’d gotten consecutive NHL starts since an emergency recall with Detroit in January of 2022. As strong as he’s been as the backup ‘tender, four starts in a week is not really part of his history, and that’s what it would’ve taken for the Oilers to pull out a series win with the likeable Pickard in the pipes. My own take was always that Pickard would play until the third loss, then Skinner would get another shot, which is apparently in line with Knoblauch’s thinking as well. Fair to say that Pickard’s strong performance in Game 5 made that decision a lot tougher. Also fair to say that Skinner’s performance in the postseason hasn’t inspired a tremendous amount of confidence in Oil Country. He had a pair of excellent games in Los Angeles, otherwise a string of sub-.900 games including the last 4 in a row. The Oilers will get a well-rested, highly-motivated version of Stu Skinner against the Canucks tonight. How well that translates to actual performance is the question, and with it a bunch of subsidiary questions that could well hang over both goalie and coach all summer long if things don’t go well. Meanwhile, big questions hang over the group of skaters, especially Edmonton’s top players who have not seen the ice since Thursday’s loss. Those numbers are familiar to most, but for the record that is Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evander Kane, Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard. Trouble being, that list of key skaters almost perfectly matches that of Edmonton’s poorest performers in Game 5: Worth noting that the 7 big names at the bottom of this particular game score card exactly correspond with the top 7 Oilers for ice time in this series. Of particular concern was the first unit at 5v5, the bottom 5 names here, which generated almost nothing offensively while being lit up for a pair of goals at their own end of the sheet including J.T. Miller’s last-minute game winner. Let’s face it folks, for the Oilers to have a fighting chance, all of those guys need to be a whole lot better on Saturday night. With rumours of illness and injury rippling through the ranks, extra rest is likely the better choice. Sounds like Corey Perry will be coming out of the line-up after 9 pointless games. Who will replace him? Adam Henrique, reportedly ruled out for Game 6 last night, took the skate this morning and is now being tabbed as likely to return to the line-up. “Not written in sharpie”. Other options include forwards Sam Carrick and Sam Gagner as well as Perry himself. An 11F / 7D alignment is also a remote possibility, perhaps worth considering if Ekholm’s widely-reported illness remains an issue. Lots of questions hanging over the Edmonton Oilers. The short-term answers will begin to filter in shortly after tonight’s (early! 6pm MDT) puck drop. In the longer term, those questions threaten to hang around all summer. Recently at the Cult of Hockey STAPLES: Changes in the works for Game 6 STAPLES: Secret sauce from each Oilers player to avoid Game 6 elimination McCURDY: Ekholm, Draisaitl, Kane — Maintenance Men by day, difference makers by night LEAVINS: 9 Things Player grades LEAVINS: Game 5 — Canucks 3, Oilers 2 STAPLES: Game 4 — Oilers 3, Canucks 2 McCURDY: Game 3 — Canucks 4, Oilers 3 STAPLES: Game 2 — Oilers 4, Canucks 3 (OT) LEAVINS: Game 1 — Canucks 5, Oilers 4 Follow me on X-Twitter @BruceMcCurdy
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Stuart Skinner back in net for Edmonton Oilers? Carrick in for Perry? New third line? Yes, sounds like it
Stuart Skinner back in net instead of Calvin Pickard for the Edmonton Oilers for Game 6? Centre Sam Carrick in for winger Corey Perry? And a new third line of Derek Ryan, Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod, the same line that did so well against Las Vegas last playoff season? It sound like it to me, at least if I’m correctly following the bread crumbs dropped by Edmonton’s Game 6 line-up dropped by the team’s ultimate insider Bob Stauffer on Oilers Now. When it comes to Carrick in the line-up, it sounds like it’s either him or Adam Henrique, Stauffer made clear. “Adam Henrique is a game time decision. I think one of Henrique or Carrick is coming in for Edmonton.” As for Skinner over Pickard, Stauffer said, “I think hypothetically there’s a strong possibility we might see Stuart Skinner start tomorrow.” Stauffer works for the team, travels with the team, is a tireless worker, and is by far the most connected reporter of all things Edmonton Oilers. If he makes.a statement like that, I take it that he’s not spitballing, that he’s heard something and this is his way of telling us. It happens now and then on Oilers Now, which is why the show is a can’t miss broadcast for fans. Stauffer and guest Frank Seravalli, the hard-hitting NHL writer of the Daily Face-off, both agreed if they were picking, they’d go with Skinner over Pickard. Servalli noted that Skinner is rested and that as well as Pickard played there was still six pucks that got behind him, one that hit the post, one of crossbar, one pulled off the line by Vincent Desharnais. “Let’s say the Oilers win Game 6 and there’s a Game 7,” Seravalli said. “Do you really want Cal Pickard playing four in a row. That’s why I’m gong with Stuart Skinner now.” Stauffer noted that Skinner had had a break and he’s been number one all year. “I’m not disrespecting for a second what Cal Pickard has done. But it’s crunch time and the team has got to play way better in front of him.” As for the third line, Stauffer had a suggestion. If they do sit Corey Perry , one of the things they can do, was to go with Derek Ryan, Warren Foegele and Ryan McLeod at third line, a trio that had been Edmonton’s best possession line against Vegas last year. “They got one shift together at the end of the second and Derek Ryan almost scored on (Vancouver goalie Arturs) Silovs.” Related: The best 20 minutes of radio you’ve ever heard? Staples and Stauffer discuss Oilers heading into game 6 My take 1. Cal Pickard was fantastic against Vancouver in Game Five. He faced 20 Grade A shots and let in just two goals. On 20 such shots you’d expect a team would score four-to-six goals. I’d go with the hot hand, stick with Pickard and worry about Game 7 if the Oilers get a win in Game 6. Skinner wasn’t sharp last year against Vegas and he hasn’t been sharp against Vancouver. If he starts, maybe he’ll be lights out. But I suspect there’s a better chance Pickard will provide solid goaltending in the next two games than Skinner will. 2. I’d like to see Sam Gagner in, but Stauffer made that sound unlikely. And, whatever my own preference, I do like the idea of going back to a line of McLeod, Ryan and Foegele. Frankly I don’t know why we didn’t see this line repeatedly throughout the season. The trio played solid two-way hockey against Vegas. 3. Perry has been struggling to keep up with the speed of the playoffs, so it makes sense he’d come out. Henrique is a smart player who blends well with Hyman and McDavid when healthy. But if Perry is coming out, and if Ryan-Foegele-McLeod are to be re-united, it makes sense to play Carrick over Henrique on the fourth line, given Henrique may be unable to take face-offs. Carrick is also healthy and can provide a physical element, something the Oilers lacked in Game 5. Related Secret sauce from each Oilers player to avoid Game 6 elimination LEAVINS: Player grades in Game 5 loss
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It's official, Craig Berube is new head coach of Maple Leafs
The book on the 40th coach in Toronto’s NHL franchise history is that he’s not one to forgive a failed effort easily. Whether Craig Brerube does hold the star power on the Maple Leafs and the rest of the team more accountable than his predecessor, especially in the playoffs, remains to be seen, but first the new man has to get up to speed with his new charges. General manager Brad Treliving confirmed he picked the name atop most lists of candidates after last week’s firing of Sheldon Keefe, hiring the 58-year-old Berube. It’s almost five years to the day Berube won a Stanley Cup by shaking up the St. Louis Blues as a mid-season replacement. Unlike when he accepted his last assignment, Berube inherits a team that finished with more than 100 points the past three years, with NHL goal leader Auston Matthews and two right wingers who were within 100 points this year and last in William Nylander and Mitch Marner. But getting more from the Leafs in clutch post-season moments, particularly Marner and Matthews, will be what fans want to see a year from now. Berube was let go by the Blues this past December as their Cup roster thinned out through age, injuries, trades and free agency. But he’s best recalled for winning a title without a recognized franchise player and steady, but not spectacular goaltending, a game plan based as much on skill players accepting defensive roles as scoring themselves. Berube might have kept the Blues in the Cup hunt had COVID-19 not disrupted the whole NHL the following year. They stayed competitive, but his often heavy-handed approach had run its course by last December when the team lost four straight and dipped below .500. Craig Berube or Todd McLellan will put Leafs on notice says ex-NHLer Kelly Chase https://torontosun.com/sports/maple-leaf-sports-and-entertainment-unveil-latest-steps-in-reimagination-aimed-at-enhancing-arena For all of Keefe’s efforts to pry the most of his Core Four, the three aforementioned players and captain John Tavares, the Leafs as a whole bought into playoff hockey a little too late after getting down 3-1 to Boston. It turned into the sixth time they’d lost a Game 5 or 7 of an opening round series since 2017, the fourth under Keefe. Nicknamed ‘Chief’, with 3,360 NHL penalty minutes in almost 1,200 NHL games, he brings a lot of that pugnacious attitude to the job. “He’s going to ask you to play hard or you won’t play,” former NHLer and Blues’ broadcaster Kelly Chase told the Sun last week when Berube’s name came up as a replacement for Keefe. “And that (controversy) only has to happen a couple of times in the winter for it to be understood by every player come spring. “He’s brutally honest. He went to Alex Steen in our Cup year and said, ‘I want you to take a lesser role, but it’s going to be important’. He played him with Ivan Barbashev and Oskar Sundqvist. People were calling it the third or fourth line, but they were huge. So, he might go to Marner and say, ‘I’m moving you down because this other player is doing better. You want to play more? Play harder.’ ” Treliving will just have to hope Berube can find a level of comfort in Canada’s most intense hockey market compared to the game’s often secondary status in St. Louis. But Berube did start out with the Philadelphia Flyers as their head coach ten years ago (75-58-28 with one playoff appearance in two years) and after his Cup appearance, knows how to survive a large media scrum. Just don’t expect the long and detailed answers Keefe liked to provide in explaining his methods. Part-Indigenous Cree, Berube was born in Calahoo, Alta., a reserve community with less than 200 people. Undrafted, he debuted with the Flyers with two fights and eventually played for both his home province Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. In between, he was a Leaf for 40 games, traded from the Oilers in the Glenn Anderson-Grant Fuhr acquisition and to the Flames when Toronto acquired Doug Gilmour in the record 10-player swap. Craig Berube or Todd McLellan will put Leafs on notice says ex-NHLer Kelly Chase https://torontosun.com/sports/maple-leaf-sports-and-entertainment-unveil-latest-steps-in-reimagination-aimed-at-enhancing-arena “I’m going to wait for an NHL job and see what happens,” Berube told Flyers’ blogger Wayne Fish after being let go in St. Louis and returning to the Philly area to be closer to his three children by his first marriage. “It doesn’t matter where. I’m sure I have a shot. It all boils down to talking to a team, talking to the GM, the ownership. “If they believe in your message, if they like what you’re saying. In the interview process, if it’s a good fit for me and a good fit for them, probably something will get done.” It was believed Treliving met face-to-face with seasoned NHL coach Todd McLellan as part of the interview process. Another well-travelled coach, Gerard Gallant, was in the mix, but Berube was named before Rod Brind’Amour’s future with the Carolina Hurricanes was determined, after their Thursday-night elimination by the New York Rangers. Berube coming to the Leafs, after being briefly courted by New Jersey, shifts the coaching spotlight to vacancies with the Devils, Winnipeg Jets, Seattle Kraken and San Jose Sharks. It remains to be seen if Joel Quenneville gets clearance from the NHL to resume his career after three years on the sidelines. lhornby@postmedia.com X:@sunhornby
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