It’s never too late to change goalies.
Two wins shy of capturing their first Stanley Cup since 1990, the Oilers are turning to Calvin Pickard to replace Stuart Skinner as the starting goalie for Game 5 at 8 p.m. Saturday.
The best-of-seven series against the Panthers is tied 2-2.
The last Stanley Cup winner to have multiple goalies record decisions in the finals — without an injury to necessitate a change — was the 1972 Bruins, according to ESPN Research.
Pickard earned his career-defining moment after coming off the bench in each of the last two games.
He made 17 straight saves and 22 on 23 shots in Game 4 to allow the Oilers to forge a stunning three-goal comeback and steal an overtime win.
It’s not unfamiliar territory for Pickard, who entered the playoffs as a backup but took over for Skinner during the first-round series against the Kings and reeled off six straight wins.
He might have held onto the job if not for an injury that forced the Oilers to go back to Skinner.
Pickard has won seven straight decisions, including Game 4.
He is the fourth goalie in playoffs history to win at least seven straight decisions after not opening the postseason as a starter.
Skinner started 51 games to Pickard’s 30 in the regular season and 14 to his six in the postseason.
But Pickard — a journeyman who has played for six teams over a 10-year career — could be the X-factor in what is now a race to two more wins.
Pickard’s .896 save percentage in the playoffs is better than Skinner’s .891.
“We’ve got two good goaltenders. Stu has come in and played some really big games, especially later in the series,” coach Kris Knoblauch said. “But I think the deciding factor for us was we won the previous game and Picks made a lot of big saves.”
The last time that a Stanley Cup champion split goalie responsibilities so evenly was in 2017, when the Penguins got nine wins from Marc-Andre Fleury and seven from Matt Murray.