EDMONTON, Alberta — The Oilers have named goalie Calvin Pickard as their starter for Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final, replacing Stuart Skinner.

Pickard, 33, replaced Skinner after he was pulled in the third period of their Game 3 blowout loss at the Florida Panthers and again when Skinner was pulled after the first period of Game 4, having given up three goals on 17 shots. Pickard made 18 straight saves before Florida’s Sam Reinhart sent the game to overtime with a goal at 19:40 in the third period. He ended up stopping 22 of 23 shots as the Oilers won in overtime to even the series at 2-2.

“I guess you could look at today as the biggest game in my life, but the last game was the biggest game in my life until the next one. It’s rinse and repeat for me,” said Pickard, who has played for six NHL teams during his 10-year career. “It’s been a great journey. I’ve been a lot of good places. Grateful that I had the chance to come to Edmonton a couple years ago, and this is what you play for.”

Pickard has made his case to be the Oilers’ starter this postseason. He took over the Edmonton crease for an ineffective Skinner in the first round against the Los Angeles Kings and went 6-0 until an injury in the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights gave Skinner the starting job again.

With Pickard’s win in Game 5, he is just the fourth goalie in Stanley Cup playoff history to win at least seven straight postseason decisions after not starting his team’s opening playoff game. Overall, Pickard has made nine appearances in these playoffs with a .896 save percentage and a 2.69 goals-against average.

But it wasn’t an easy call to bench Skinner for the Oilers.

“I don’t think Stu was at fault at all for any of the goals the other night,” said Oilers captain Connor McDavid. “I think it was just a victim of circumstance, and Picks came in and gave us a chance.”

Coach Kris Knoblauch said it wasn’t automatic that Pickard would start, especially considering Skinner’s history of playing his best hockey as a series went deeper.

“We’ve got two good goaltenders. Stu has come in and played some really big games, especially later in the series,” said Knoblauch. “But I think the deciding factor for us was we won the previous game and Picks made a lot of big saves.”

Skinner and Pickard are only the second goalie tandem in NHL history to both have at least seven victories in a single playoff run, joining Marc-Andre Fleury (9 wins) and Matt Murray (7) from the champion 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins.

This goalie swap for the Oilers is extremely rare in Stanley Cup Final history. According to ESPN Research, the last instance of multiple goalies on a Cup-winning team recording decisions in the Final — without a reported injury reason — was when the Boston Bruins alternated between Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston in 1972. Cheevers started Game 1 and the clincher in that series.

Pickard has a lot of fans in the Edmonton locker room for the way he carries himself on and off the ice.

“I guess you’d say he’s one of the rare goalies that’s just a normal guy,” said forward Evander Kane. “Really popular guy in the room. He’s been doing this for a long time. He has a ton of experience and been in a lot of different dressing rooms. That can help you along when you do come on to different teams, making a little bit of an easier transition. Now you’re just seeing that off-ice translate on to the ice with his performance.”

The only other lineup change for Edmonton saw winger Viktor Arvidsson replacing Kasperi Kapanen at forward.

The Oilers will try to take a series lead against one of the best road playoff teams in NHL history in the Panthers.

Florida is 9-3 on the road in the playoffs. One more win away from home would tie the single-season record for road victories, shared by six teams and most recently tied by the champion 2019 St. Louis Blues. No team in Stanley Cup playoffs history has scored more on the road (56 goals) than these Panthers have.

“I’ve noticed that the style of game that we play travels. I don’t think we don’t change anything based on whether we’re home or away. First change, last change, anything like that. Our game is very direct,” Panthers defenseman Seth Jones said. “It’s simple and it’s physical hockey and it’s fast. So we don’t need to change anything on the road, just get to our game a little quicker.”

Game 5 is set for 8 p.m. ET Saturday. When a best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final is tied 2-2, the winner of Game 5 has won 73% of the series.

A manhunt is under way after a US politician and her husband were shot dead in their home in a “politically motivated assassination” – and another politician and his wife were also shot.

Minnesota state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed at their home, Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota, confirmed.

State senator John Hoffman and his wife were also shot in their home but are expected to survive. The senator, according to officials, is in a stable condition after emergency surgery.

Authorities have confirmed that the suspect they are looking for is 57-year-old Vance Boelter – who, in a press conference, was described as a 6ft 1in white male, with brown hair and brown eyes.

Members of the public have been urged not to approach him as he may be armed.

The suspect was reportedly posing as a police officer, and officials said the alleged attacker escaped after an exchange of gunfire.

Both politicians are members of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

US President Donald Trump, in a statement, said: “I have been briefed on the terrible shooting that took place in Minnesota, which appears to be a targeted attack against State Lawmakers.

“Our Attorney General, Pam Bondi, and the FBI, are investigating the situation, and they will be prosecuting anyone involved to the fullest extent of the law.

“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America.”

Authorities have urged residents of the Champlin and Brooklyn Park areas to stay in their homes.

In an earlier Facebook post, Mr Walz said: “I’ve been briefed this morning on an ongoing situation involving targeted shootings in Champlin and Brooklyn Park.

“The Minnesota Department of Public Safety and local law enforcement are on the scene. We will share more information soon.”

At a subsequent news conference, Mr Walz said: “We must all, in Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence.

“Those responsible for this will be held accountable.”

He has also urged those in Minnesota not to attend political rallies until the suspect is caught.

Police evacuated the Texas State Capitol and grounds in Austin ahead of an anti-Trump protest on Saturday – citing a credible threat to politicians.

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Post-mortem examinations will be conducted to determine the extent of their injuries.

However, it is clear that both Ms Hortman and her spouse died from gunshot wounds, Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said.

Ms Hortman, a mother of two, was first elected in 2004 – and was the top house Democratic leader in the state legislature. She also served as speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Mr Hoffman, also a Democrat, was first elected in 2012 – and ran a consulting firm called Hoffman Strategic Advisors.

Hakeem Jeffries, House Democratic leader, has described the shootings as “deeply disturbing” on X, adding that “violence is never acceptable”, and that he is “praying hard” for the victims.

Former Arizona representative, Gabby Giffords, described her friend Ms Hortman as a “true public servant”, who “dedicated her life building a better, safer Minnesota”.

Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the US House of Representatives, said she was “heartbroken” by the news.

She added: “Unfortunately, we know the tragedy of when political violence hits home very well.

“All of us must remember that it’s not only the act of violence, but also the reaction to it, that can normalise it. This climate of politically-motivated violence must end.”

In a tribute, Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin said: “Melissa, Mark, John, and Yvette – these are not just names, and this is not just politics.

“These are people. They’re longtime friends to me and Jenn and so many others in Minnesota. They have children, loved ones, neighbors, and friends.”

Mr Martin added: “Today, we recommit ourselves to fight harder for the values that Melissa and Mark embodied – building a kinder, more just, and loving world. If this murderer thinks we will be silenced, he’s wrong.”

US President Donald Trump has revealed details of a one-hour phone call with his Russian counterpart, in which they agreed the conflict between Israel and Iran should end.

Posting on his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump added that he told Vladimir Putin that “his war [in Ukraine] should also end”.

Iran has retaliated following Israel’s attack on its nuclear sites on Friday – which killed senior army officers and nuclear scientists.

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The Iranian response has resulted in at least three people killed and dozens of injuries in Israel, according to medics. Iranian state TV, meanwhile, has reported that 20 children are among the 60 killed in a strike on a Tehran neighbourhood on Saturday.

Iranian missiles were seen entering Israeli airspace on Saturday evening.

Meanwhile, RAF jets and military assets are being sent to the Middle East after Tehran warned the UK and other allies their regional bases would be targeted if they helped defend Israel in the growing conflict between the two heavily armed countries.

In his post, Mr Trump said: “President Putin called this morning to very nicely wish me a Happy Birthday, but to more importantly, talk about Iran, a country he knows very well. We talked at length.

“Much less time was spent talking about Russia/Ukraine, but that will be for next week. He is doing the planned prisoner swaps – large numbers of prisoners are being exchanged, immediately, from both sides.

“The call lasted approximately 1 hour. He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end.”

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Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said President Putin condemned Israel’s military operation in Iran and expressed concerns about the risk of escalation.

During the conversation, the Russian leader briefed President Trump on his recent talks with the leaders of Israel and Iran – reiterating Russia’s hopes to seek mutually acceptable solutions on Iran’s growing nuclear issue.

Meanwhile, the latest round of US-Iran nuclear talks scheduled for Sunday in Muscat will not take place, a senior US administration official has told Sky’s US partner network NBC News.

However, the official said the US is “not shutting the door to future discussions”.

“While there will be no meeting on Sunday, we remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon,” the official said.