Edmonton Oilers must be considering another change in net for Game 4

Was every goal-against in this series Stuart Skinner’s fault?

No. But they all still counted as a goal-against for the Edmonton Oilers.

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And when your shark attack is starting to look more and more like chunky chum to a Florida Panthers group smelling blood in the water with a 2-1 series lead in the Stanley Cup Final, well, let’s just say they’re gonna need a bigger boat.

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Whether that comes in the form of a change in starting goalie for Game 4 on Thursday (6 p.m., CBC, Sportsnet), only time will tell.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch gave Skinner the hook with his Oilers trailing 5-1 at 3:27 of the third period Monday, on the way to a 6-1 loss in Game 3.

“They’ve got good players, good shooters,” Oilers captain Connor McDavid said. “So, I don’t know how much we’re going to put on Stu.

“We can be better, for sure.”

But so can Skinner.

Up to this point, he has allowed 13 goals in three games (albeit across 12 separate periods of work, given the first two games ran long).

Of the 97 shots he’s faced, Skinner made 84 saves for a .866 goals-against average.

Not good enough. Not in the Stanley Cup Final against the same opponent they lost to in Game 7 of this same series a year ago. Not even with the top three points leaders of the playoffs on their roster.

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So, Knoblauch & Co. have a big decision ahead of them as they head into their biggest game of the year.

Calvin Pickard came in and stopped seven of the eight shots he faced over the final 16:33 on Monday, much like he did when he first spelled off Skinner in Game 2 of the opening round against the L.A. Kings. Of course, back then, the Oilers didn’t win Game 1, and appeared headed toward the brink of early elimination.

Pickard went on to win six straight starts, dusting off the Kings and setting up the Oilers nicely against the Pacific Division-leading Vegas Golden Knights, before a lower-body injury suffered in Game 2 of that one paved the way for Skinner to resume the role.

And he returned a new man, going 6-2 with a trio of shutouts on the way to reaching the Round 4 rematch against Florida, where he pushed it to 7-2 before the wheels started falling off again with Edmonton’s first back-to-back losses since playoffs began.

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So, it’s decision time once again. And they’ll have two days between games to think it over, whether they need that much time or not.

“We haven’t made a decision on goaltending,” Knoblauch said post-game. “Stu, I don’t think, had much chance on many of those goals.

“I think collectively, goaltender, defence, all our forwards, we all have to be better.”

The big question is, will a change in net provide as much of a spark this time around as it did back in Round 1?

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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