FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Stuart Skinner has been dominant in Game 4s during the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Edmonton Oilers are banking on their goalie to do that again in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; MAX, truTV, TNT, SN, TVAS, CBC).
Florida leads the best-of-7 series 2-1.
Skinner is 6-0 with a 0.83 goals-against average, .970 save percentage and two shutouts in his past six Game 4s, including a 23-save 3-0 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the second round and a 28-save 4-1 win against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final.
"I didn't fully know the numbers, but for myself personally, I think as series go on I get better and better," Skinner said. "As series go on I feel I start to get a little bit more of a rhythm and hopefully that continues."
The Oilers are looking for a big response following a 6-1 loss in Game 3 on Monday, when Skinner allowed five goals on 23 shots and was pulled early in the third period.
He's staying in net, but Edmonton is making several changes in front of him, including three new-look forward lines and three new defense pairs.
Up front, Jeff Skinner will make his Cup Final debut, replacing Viktor Arvidsson and starting on the third line with Adam Henrique and Trent Frederic. Skinner has played in two games in the playoffs and scored a goal in Game 5 against the Stars.
Connor Brown will move up from the third line to play with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Corey Perry bumps off the first line to play with Mattias Janmark and Vasily Podkolzin on the fourth line. The second line of Evander Kane, Leon Draisaitl and Kasperi Kapanen remains intact.
On the back end, Troy Stecher will make his Cup Final debut, replacing John Klingberg, and will be paired with Darnell Nurse. Stecher has no points in six games this postseason.
Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard will be separated; Ekholm will be paired with Jake Walman and Bouchard with Brett Kulak.
"We have a lot of good players, a lot of good players who had been in and out of the lineup," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "Some players haven't even seen any game action so far in this series. Felt that we could use the change, have those guys come in, give us a boost. We've seen it throughout the playoffs where we've made alterations to our lineup and it's benefited us."
Florida is making no such changes after winning Game 3 going away and Game 2 on forward Brad Marchand's double-overtime goal in a 5-4 victory.
But the Panthers are not underestimating their foes based off one blowout win.
"Usually you get teams' best after that," Marchand said. "I think especially with the players they have in the room, how competitive they are, they're going to look to bounce back. When you have that kind of leadership, they normally lead the way, those top guys. That's a dangerous combination. We have to make sure that we bring our best."
The Panthers, historically, find themselves in a favorable position after taking two of the first three games.
This marks the 11th time a defending champion has taken a 2-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Final. Nine of the previous 10 defending champs have gone on to win the series, with the lone exception being the 2009 Detroit Red Wings, who lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in seven games.
Teams that hold a 2-1 lead in a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Final have gone on to win the series 80.4 percent of the time (45-11).
"I don't think you feel it two wins away," Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. "I think you feel it the morning you have a chance. We spoke about that last year and how it became normal to have a chance to win on that day. There's a lot of experience here and in that room with that opportunity, with that chance to win, so everybody will be a lot more comfortable in these situations on both sides."
