The Edmonton Oilers are going back to Stuart Skinner between the pipes for Sunday's must-win Game 6 against the Vegas Golden Knights, the team announced.
Head coach Jay Woodcroft was non-committal on who would get the nod after Skinner was replaced by Jack Campbell in Edmonton's Game 5 loss. It was the third time Skinner has been pulled in 11 playoff starts this spring.
"He's a mature, calm, young man that works his tail off and is ready to meet whatever moment is before him," Woodcroft said of Skinner. "Specifically in this playoff run, I think he's had an ability to have a short memory and an ability to play his best when it matters most."
Skinner owns a 5-5 record in the postseason along with an .890 save percentage and a 3.52 goals against average. Campbell has a .957 clip but has only faced a combined 47 shots in relief.
The Oilers handed Skinner the reins in the regular season amid an impressive rookie campaign. The 24-year-old went 29-14-15 with a .913 save percentage, drastically out-performing Campbell, who was expected to be Edmonton's No. 1 after inking a five-year contract with the club in free agency last summer.
Game 6 begins at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday. The Oilers are 3-2 at home so far in the playoffs.
Jay Woodcroft isn't tipping his hand about which Edmonton Oilers goaltender will be in the crease to start Game 6 of their second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights on Sunday night.
"I'm going to reserve the right to take the time that we have before we have to make that decision," the Oilers head coach said Saturday.
Stuart Skinner has started all 11 playoff games for Edmonton this spring. He owns a .890 save percentage in that span. Woodcroft has pulled him in favor of Jack Campbell three times this postseason, including in a 4-3 loss Friday.
However, Woodcroft praised Skinner and insisted the 24-year-old's performance wasn't a factor in giving Campbell a few opportunities.
"(Skinner has been) very good," Woodcroft said. "He's given us a chance to win ... in those pulls, that was more to either stem the tide of momentum or to try and change something up. Those are on the team, they're not on one individual. So, for us, we're in the position we're in because of the people that we have in the locker room, and we believe the solutions to what we're trying to get done here - the answers - are in the locker room."
Woodcroft also lauded Campbell for his ability to step in when called upon.
"He's someone who's come (on in) relief very well," the bench boss said. "He's done his job, and I think that's a big thing for all players. ... For Jack to come (on in) relief the times he has, he's come in and done his job and been an important member of our group."
Campbell was a prized offseason signing for the Oilers, who inked him to a five-year, $25-million deal last July. The 31-year-old began the campaign as Edmonton's starter, but Skinner snatched the job from him and ran with it by outplaying him in the second half.
The elder netminder also replaced Skinner during a 5-1 loss in Game 3 of this series and a 5-4 overtime win against the Los Angeles Kings in Game 4 of their first-round matchup. Campbell has turned aside all but two of 47 shots in these playoffs.
Skinner was voted a Calder Trophy finalist earlier in May. He posted a .914 save percentage during the regular season, going 29-14-5 in 50 games and starting all but two of them. Skinner had never played in the postseason before starting Game 1 against the Kings in April.
The Golden Knights lead the ongoing series 3-2. If necessary, Game 7 would take place Tuesday night.
Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell wasn't pleased with his outing in his team's 6-3 loss to the Seattle Kraken in Game 6 on Saturday night.
"I'm just so disappointed at myself, too," Lindell said postgame, according to The Athletic's Saad Yousuf. "Only thing now is to move on and get prepared for Game 7 and be way, way better in that one."
Usually a steady, reliable shutdown defender, Lindell posted a game-worst minus-four rating in the contest.
"I don't know if I've played that bad for a long time," Lindell continued. "It felt they got odd-mans, won battles, all the things we've been good at before went sideways today."
Lindell's underlying numbers were much stronger in the contest, as the Stars controlled 56.26% of the expected goals while he was on the ice at five-on-five.
Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer doesn't believe the blame should fall on Lindell and his partner Jani Hakanpaa, who posted a minus-three rating in the contest himself.
"They weren't worse than anybody else," DeBoer said.
He added: "I mean, we won Games 4 and 5. Those two guys both dressed and played, and played pretty well. Again, I know what the numbers say, but they weren't any worse than anybody else in our group tonight."
It's no secret that the Edmonton Oilers have made a conscious effort to finish their checks on multiple Vegas Golden Knights players, including veteran defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.
However, Pietrangelo, who was just suspended one game for slashing Leon Draisaitl, believes the Oilers are targeting him to the point that it warrants supplemental discipline.
"It's pretty obvious what's going on. I mean, there's premeditated stuff, I'm pretty sure, coming at me," Pietrangelo said Saturday. "(The department of player safety) didn't really seem to care in the meeting, but I'll get up and take it."
Pietrangelo also hinted that some Oilers players have been embellishing.
"You know, I'm not going to lay on the ice like what's going on and we've been seeing," he said. "So, I'll get up and play the game the way it needs to be played."
Pietrangelo was notably cross-checked from behind into the boards moments before he slashed Draisaitl.
— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) May 11, 2023
The punishment he's been taking may have led to him uncharacteristically losing his cool, with the slash resulting in Pietrangelo's first suspension of his 15-year NHL career.
Pietrangelo believes the overall feistiness of the series gives the Golden Knights more motive to win.
"Oh yeah, absolutely," Pietrangelo said when asked if there's extra motivation. "I'm sure the rest of the guys do, too. I'm sure the guys had a little extra motivation last night. We're a tight group in there. We got each other's back. Sitting there last night watching the game, I was sweating. It's not fun to watch."
Pietrangelo, who leads all Golden Knights defensemen in points (six) and average time on ice (24:37) during the playoffs, will get back into the lineup for Game 6, where Vegas will have a chance to eliminate the Oilers to advance to the Western Conference Final for the fourth time in the franchise's six-year existence.
Just when you thought excitement for "Carolina" and "Panthers" hit its high point with the first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, Raleigh's Hurricanes take on Florida's cats for a spot in the Stanley Cup Final.
Carolina has taken a bite out of our account by knocking off the Islanders and Devils, but the Panthers have more than made up for it with a playoff run that we saw some early signs of, leaving us less surprised than we were when their nickname-sake traded up to grab Bryce Young.
Series odds
TEAM
GAME 1
SERIES
SERIES HANDICAP
Panthers
+120
+115
+1.5 (-170)
Hurricanes
-140
-135
-1.5 (+130)
Oddsmakers think both teams have a better chance of winning this series than they did in the last round. While the Panthers remain underdogs - albeit at shorter and shorter prices, it's easy to forget that Carolina was actually the smallest of underdogs before the puck dropped against the Devils.
Ratings
Using primarily even-strength metrics to evaluate a team's quality, we've established how a team rates relative to an average NHL team. We use these ratings to create an implied win probability split in each game, which we then translate to a fair moneyline price for each before home-ice advantage is applied and the sportsbook takes its vig on a bet. Here's how these teams rated over the season, when isolating play after the All-Star break, and in their first-round matchup (relative to their opponent).
TEAM
SEASON
POST-ASB
ROUND 1
ROUND 2
Panthers
+17%
+16%
+27.8%
+7.2%
Hurricanes
+30%
+20%
-2%
27.9%
Unsurprisingly, the Hurricanes had a better rating during the regular season - commensurate with winning a highly competitive Metropolitan division. The Panthers graded out far better than mainstream hockey media was giving them credit for, which is why we've been able to find value on Florida in the first two rounds.
Perhaps more interesting is that both teams have managed to win a round without playing their best. The Hurricanes weren't convincingly better than a very average Isles team in Round 1, while the Panthers had just one game (Game 3) where they outpaced the Maple Leafs at even strength.
Advanced metrics at even strength (regular season)
The Hurricanes spent the season dominating teams at even strength with the type of consistency that accumulates wins and points toward the standings. The Panthers did well to take advantage of their high-danger chances, and their goaltending was good at making big saves but gifted soft goals to their opponents.
"Beware of the hot goalie," they say. Each team's current starter went from very average in the regular season to Vezina-caliber in the playoffs. Of course, neither Sergei Bobrovsky nor Frederik Andersen has started every one of his team's games. Bobrovsky took over starting duties in Game 4 of the first round and has gone 7-2. Andersen has started the last six games for Carolina, losing just once.
How each netminder performs - as this small sample size increases another two weeks - will help decide which team reaches the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, that's just as unpredictable now as it was when the playoffs started with Alex Lyon and Antti Raanta getting the first crack in the crease.
Special teams (regular season)
TEAM
PP%
PK%
PP+PK
Panthers
22.8
76.0
98.8
Hurricanes
19.8
84.4
104.2
After losing seven total goals in special teams situations in the first round, the Panthers managed to hold off the Leafs' vaunted power play to gain a one-goal overall edge. The Hurricanes' special teams results have been wildly skewed thanks to three shorthanded goals in an 8-4 loss, and their 18.9% power-play efficiency mirrors their regular season. Even with the Canes' low conversion rate, the Panthers will need to keep increasing a 65.8% postseason kill.
Moneyline betting guide
If you followed our NHL betting guide where we projected moneylines for each game, allowing us to compare and contrast our price to bet with what's available on a daily basis, you may be interested in what prices would be considered valuable for each team when they're on the road, at home, and for the series as a whole.
Price to bet
TEAM
NEUT. WIN PROB
GM 1/2/5/7
GM 3/4/6
SERIES
Panthers
48.4%
+142
-102
+141
Hurricanes
51.6%
-116
+124
-115
In the Panthers-Leafs preview, we said Florida could easily be favored in that series, and many probably scoffed. How does that statement look now?
Well, if it was fun to be right about that, it's equally boring that we're not finding much pure value in the prices for various series markets. Maybe it's because the Hurricanes don't have the same attractive branding as the Bruins or Maple Leafs, or maybe the market has caught on to how dangerous Florida is, but the odds reflect newfound respect for the Panthers.
Best bets
After a predictably tight first-round series, things got looser in Carolina's games with New Jersey, while the Panthers relied on Bobrovksy to keep the goal totals down against Toronto. I'm not sure that either team's goaltender can keep up their GSAx numbers, and 5.5 might not be high enough of a total for each game.
As for the series, the Panthers at +120 is my exact fair price for them to win the series, but I'd rather go elsewhere to back Florida, knowing that I'm at least getting a fair price on their derivatives. At -170, Florida +1.5 games is that bet, as I expect a long series, and maybe the worst-case scenario is that the Panthers need a home win in Game 6 - where they'll be the favorites - to push it to a ticket-clinching seventh game.
Game 1: Over 5.5 goals (-120) Series: Panthers +1.5 games (-170)
Matt Russell is the lead betting analyst for theScore. If there's a bad beat to be had, Matt will find it. Find him on Twitter @mrussauthentic.
A measly two goals scored in each of the final seven games of the season.
Just three times in which they definitively outplayed the opposition over an 11-game stretch - the only 11 that mattered out of the 93 since October.
There are countless ways to frame the Toronto Maple Leafs' latest playoff exit, which came at the hands of the Florida Panthers on Friday night in Game 5 of the second round. Yet it all comes down to this simple truth: the Leafs' most successful postseason of the Auston Matthews-Mitch Marner era includes five wins - still 11 short of the tally required to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Mark Blinch / Getty Images
In other words, the Leafs, for the seventh straight season, weren't even close to completing their preseason objective. An objective that's been elusive for 56 years. An objective that didn't seem preordained with a core of Matthews, Marner, John Tavares, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly, but at the very least felt within the range of reasonable possibilities.
Who's presiding over the franchise, managing the roster, coaching the team, and slipping on the Leafs crest next season is all hanging in the balance. Changes are inevitable. The severity of those changes is to be determined.
The uncertainty starts at the top. The ownership group, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, can opt for the nuclear option of firing president Brendan Shanahan. The team initiated the so-called "Shanaplan" nine years ago, but three general managers and four coaches on, it has produced one series victory.
Process be damned - that's unacceptable for a club with endless resources.
Shanahan, who's under contract through 2024-25, hasn't done a poor job. The Hockey Hall of Famer's overseen unprecedented regular-season success, and it's not as if he and GM Kyle Dubas haven't adjusted to playoff losses. Sandpaper, defense, leadership, and depth have been added over the years.
A president shouldn't have unlimited runway, though, and Shanahan's coming up on a decade in charge. There's been anger, frustration, and sadness within the fan base for years. Apathy now, too. Moving on from Shanahan would signal a completely new era. A way to save face and chart a different path.
Lance McMillan / Getty Images
If Shanahan's canned, Dubas and coach Sheldon Keefe likely lose their jobs.
If MLSE sticks to the Shanaplan, Dubas or Keefe, or both, may still get fired.
Dubas, in case you haven't heard, is on an expiring contract. The public has assumed this lack of job security is directly related to playoff success. There's an argument to be made that Dubas excelled in 2022-23 by surrounding the core with layers of veteran support - Ryan O'Reilly, Luke Schenn, Jake McCabe, etc. - and that finally winning a playoff series validates those moves.
But that argument ignores the past. Dubas has been at the helm for five years, and the collection of players he's bet on hasn't lived up to the hype. Devoting half of the salary cap to four players has proven to be an unwise strategy. And while goaltending luckily wasn't a major issue in the postseason, it's fair to question Dubas for his offseason acquisition of injury-riddled Matt Murray, who closed out the year as the backup to rookie netminder Joseph Woll.
Make no mistake: Dubas will be highly sought after if he hits the free-agent market. The 37-year-old is well-respected across the NHL, and let's face it, he made far more good moves than bad during his first twirl in the GM's chair.
Consider this, too: Even if the Leafs want Dubas back, he could choose to walk away. It might be a better long-term career move for him to pull the chute on the Leafs experiment and start fresh elsewhere, whether that be in Pittsburgh, Calgary, or another city. His paychecks will be fatter, he'll likely have more autonomy, and he'll be working with a different core.
Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images
Pro sports is a results-driven business, and somebody must pay for a lack of results. It's usually the coach, which means Keefe's job isn't safe, even if Shanahan stays, and, yes, even if his buddy Dubas stays. Keefe, who boasts one of the best regular-season winning percentages in NHL history yet owns a 13-17 record in the playoffs, is under contract through 2023-24.
Player motivation is part of the coach's job, and Keefe is responsible for a hefty chunk of the Leafs' uninspiring performance in Game 3 versus Florida. He was arguably outcoached throughout this playoff run and past postseasons - for instance, shuffling his forward lines too often or not enough and failing to get his team ready for the relentless Panthers forecheck.
Like his players, Keefe didn't execute to the best of his abilities as the pressure mounted. There was progress this year, but not enough.
After past playoff losses, there were three options: stay the course, tinker through a handful of minor alterations, or turn the page with major changes. This time around, turning the page appears to be the only viable option.
Firing one, two, or three of Shanahan, Dubas, and Keefe would be the start. From there, the Core Five - the four highest-paid forwards and the highest-paid defenseman - probably shouldn't return fully intact. Move one? Two?
Matthews, the team's best player, launched the Leafs' comeback in Game 4 of the first round. He finished with five goals and six assists, or a point per contest, off a league-high 49 shots on goal and 66 scoring chances. Most crucially, though, Matthews failed to score a single goal in the second round.
Kevin Sousa / Getty Images
Marner, the team's top point producer in the regular season and playoffs, scored the game-winner in the club's lone second-round win. He was also the biggest no-show of any Leafs star in Wednesday's painfully poor Game 3.
Tavares notched the series-clinching goal in Round 1 and won some key faceoffs. Otherwise, he continued to show signs of decline. Nylander, snakebitten before scoring in back-to-back games to end the season, was consistently dangerous. Rielly, meanwhile, was a puck-hungry menace all postseason, contributing 12 points from the back end, many in clutch moments.
The collective performance of Toronto's five top players was far from terrible. But it wasn't quite strong enough in gut-check situations. Again. And now the clock is ticking. In a matter of weeks, we'll find out plenty about the long-term plan.
Matthews, who turns 26 in September, and Nylander, 27 as of May 1, are both eligible to sign new contracts on July 1. Matthews' current deal includes a no-move clause in the final year, while Nylander's has a 10-team no-trade clause.
Marner, who turned 26 last week, and Tavares, 33 in September, each have two seasons remaining. Tavares' deal includes a no-move clause for all seven years, while Marner's no-move clause kicks in - conveniently - on July 1.
Claus Andersen / Getty Images
The Leafs, regardless of who's in charge, will probably view Matthews as an untouchable in trade talks. What's going on inside the superstar's head is just as relevant, though. Does Matthews want to stay in Toronto? If so, does he truly believe the Leafs can win a Cup? The same questions can be applied to Nylander, the favorite whipping boy for a segment of Leafs Nation.
Perhaps Nylander wants to play out his final year and then take his talents elsewhere via free agency. Or maybe the front office, which is handicapped by Tavares' undesirable contract and likely uninterested in involving Rielly in trade talks, can shake up the core by shipping out Nylander. Or Marner. Or both.
No matter what route it takes, the front office will need to get creative.
The downside of trading Nylander and/or Marner: It'll be difficult to win the trade(s). The Panthers did something similar last offseason, sending longtime core member Jonathan Huberdeau to the Calgary Flames in a blockbuster that brought back 2022-23 Hart Trophy finalist Matthew Tkachuk. Yet the Flames-Panthers trade isn't much of a template because the circumstances (Tkachuk wanted out, Johnny Gaudreau had recently left) don't align with Toronto's.
The upside of trading Nylander and/or Marner: It's the next step in the evolution. A last-ditch effort for this era. Everything around the core - from the second-tier guys to the role players to the goaltenders - has been turned over, and it'll be turned over again this offseason, with 10 unrestricted free agents on the roster. The only thing left to do is to add and subtract from the Core Five.
Well, that and maybe firing somebody in charge. That's the first domino to watch.
John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email (john.matisz@thescore.com).
