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Embattled Edmonton Oilers look for spark from backup goalie Pickard
What’s the big deal? It’s not as if the Edmonton Oilers are starting their third-string goaltender against the Vancouver Canucks in Game 4. Backup Calvin Pickard got the nod to make his first start of the playoffs as the Oilers looked for a spark in net after falling behind 2-1 to the Pacific Division leaders in the Western Conference second-round series. The Canucks took the lead thanks in large part to the efforts of third-string goalie Arturs Silovs, who managed to upstage Oilers starter Stuart Skinner at almost every turn early on in the series. Neither of their numbers had been truly spectacular over the first three games. But one certainly outperformed the other. Silovs, fresh off the farm in the wake of injuries to both Thatcher Demko and Casey DeSmith, helped Vancouver to a first-round win over the Nashville Predators before allowing 11 goals on 94 shots (.883) by the Oilers. Skinner, meanwhile, surrendered 12 goals on 58 shots (.793) for a save percentage of under .800 over those same three games. Technically, Pickard is the third goalie for the Oilers this year, called up in early November to replace Jack Campbell, who started the season in the No. 1 spot. But that quickly took a turn after getting pulled while giving up four goals to the Canucks on the way to an 8-1 loss in the season opener. Pickard went 12-7-1 in 20 starts this year, with a 2.45 goals-against average and .909 save percentage. But those numbers could appear inflated. Of his 20 starts, just four came against playoff-bound teams. And of his 12 wins, just one came against a playoff opponent, the Dallas Stars, 4-3 in overtime Feb. 17. Prior to spelling Skinner off for the final 16:21 of a 4-3 loss in Game 3, Pickard last played in the regular-season finale April 18. Not that he was complaining about getting the nod for his first NHL playoff start Tuesday. “It’s exciting, obviously all you can ask for is an opportunity in the Stanley Cup playoffs,” Pickard said prior to puck drop. “I felt like I had a good season, and the preparation is done and I’m excited to get out there. “Getting on the (game) sheet the other night was good, there wasn’t much going on, they sat back and held the lead. I didn’t feel too worked up. Obviously, I haven’t played in a while and no playoff action in this league at this point in my career. But it was nice to get on the sheet and I’m looking forward to tonight.” The Oilers, meanwhile, were looking for some kind of spark from the 32-year-old journeyman netminder, much like the Canucks received from their young call-up, Silovs. “I’m expecting what I’ve seen from Calvin all season — a goaltender that’s competed hard, played very well for us and piled up a lot of victories,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said following Tuesday’s morning skate. “It’s not an ideal situation, he hasn’t been playing for a long time, but he’s gone long stretches without playing and I think the team has a lot of confidence in Calvin when he has played. And he’s going to be our guy. “Sometimes I think it’s unfair, goalies get too much credit, and also too much blame when things aren’t going well. And as a team, we want to make the shots easy for him to see and be on the perimeter as much as possible. And there are going to be breakdowns, and that’s where the goaltender has to make a big save when warranted. But as a team, we can make a goaltender’s job a lot easier by how we defend.” In the end, however, Pickard knows he is the last line of defence. “I’m fighting for my life every game. Back in November when I’m getting my first start in Florida, it’s a big game for me and tonight’s a big game for me,” Pickard said. “They’re all big and I’m looking forward to the challenge. “I’m at a point in my career where worrying about other stuff isn’t going to do me any favours. I got that opportunity in November and I’ve been saying it all year, I’m not trying to put too much pressure on myself and tonight’s no different.” It’s the same approach he’s taken throughout the highs and lows of his career. “Just believing. Obviously the last five, six, or seven years since I’ve been in the NHL, consistently just believing in myself,” Pickard said. “I know I can play at this level and this year I proved it to myself and everyone around me.” E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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Oilers starting Calvin Pickard in goal for Game 4 vs. Canucks
The Edmonton Oilers will start Calvin Pickard in net tonight for Game 4 of their playoff series with the Vancouver Canucks. The 32-year-old journeyman netminder replaces Stuart Skinner, who was pulled in the third period of Edmonton’s 4-3 loss to Vancouver on Sunday after giving up four goals on 15 shots. Pickard is making his first start in the NHL playoffs after making 20 appearances for the Oilers in the regular season. The six-foot-one, 206-pound goalie went 12-7-1 with a 2.45 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage. Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch says Pickard is a hard-working goalie who has earned the confidence of his teammates. Edmonton trails Vancouver 2-1 in the best-of-seven second-round playoff series. Related MATHESON: Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner sorry for Game 3 performance Do Edmonton Oilers have Vancouver Canucks right where they want them?
Line-up changes galore in works for Oilers in crucial Game 4
Playoff Game Day 2.4 Vancouver at Edmonton After 36 hours of speculation about who would get the starter’s net for Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 vs. Vancouver, the word is in: it will be Calvin Pickard. Still speculative of course, but Pickard took the home net at Tuesday morning’s game day skate, long a reliable indicator of which netminder will take that same cage come game time. That will be one of a number of line-up changes if that morning skate is any indication, though the absence of several key regulars leaves plenty of mystery. Reading between the lines: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be reunited with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman on the first line. Sam Carrick and Sam Gagner are likely placeholders for Leon Draisaitl and Evander Kane, who will most likely join Dylan Holloway on the second line. A massive opportunity for the youngster. The second and third lines as shown here will surely be the bottom six come game time: Ryan McLeod between Warren Foegele and Corey Perry, and a checking trio of penlaty kill specialists consisting of Derek Ryan between Mattias Janmark and Connor Brown. Adam Henrique most likely remains out (now confirmed by Ryan Rishaug of TSN). Reading between the pairings (pardon the pun): the only clear indication is that the struggling duo of Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci will be split up. Presuming Mattias Ekholm will be good to go come game time, the simplest iteration is he will join Ceci. That means a new duo of Brett Kulak with Evan Bouchard. Nurse appears set to rejoin Vincent Desharnais, a pairing that saw considerable action in the second half of the season. Of course there are other alternatives as to where to fit in the multi-purpose Ekholm, possibly including on his off-side, meaning that almost anything is possible. But given that Philip Broberg is listed as the placeholder and not Troy Stecher it seems likely that the Oilers will continue to run balanced lefty-righty pairs on the back end. The pairings of Kulak-Bouchard, Nurse-Desharnais, Ekholm-Ceci were briefly deployed in February. Ekholm and Bouchard were quickly reunited, though duos of Nurse-Desharnais and Kulak-Ceci persisted for some time, with each duo accumulating over 3 hours together at 5v5. There also remains a possibility, however remote, that Kris Knoblauch might dress 7 defencemen and 11 forwards. The changes among the skaters are important, but the one between the pipes is the biggest of all. Pickard, 32, has never started an NHL playoff game before. His entire career postseason experience consists of the 16 minutes of action he saw on Sunday night when starter Stu Skinner got yanked after allowing 4 goals on 18 shots through 2 periods. Pickard stopped all 3 shots he faced but watched helplessly as Arturs Silovs turned away 21 of 22 at the far end to blunt an Oilers pushback and preserve a 4-3 victory for the visitors. Signed as an experienced #3 to use in case of emergency, Pickard was an unexpected contributor to the Oilers this season. He was pressed into NHL action in early November when Jack Campbell was waived. He made 23 appearances including 20 starts, posting a 12-7-1 record with an impressive 2.45 goals against average and .909 save percentage. Worth noting those starts were carefully selected by the coaching staff, with fully 80% of them vs. teams that subsequently missed the playoffs. In his 4 starts against playoff-calibre opposition (2 each against powerhouses Florida and Dallas), Pickard fared substantially worse: 1-3-0, 4.29, .869. In short, it’s a major gamble, necessitated by Skinner’s poor form that has seen him beaten by 12 goals on just 58 shots in the current series (4.40, .793). That’s a huge part of the reason the Oilers find themselves trailing the series. All that said, the skaters on the club bear a significant part of the responsibility for defensive lapses that have led to the occasional ten-bell scoring chance. Recent examples include a lost coverage by McDavid and a brutal turnover by Foegele on the two goals scored on uncontested shots by Vancouver sniper Brock Boeser last game. The Oilers need to cut those errors out of their game if they are to succeed. They’ll also need to be a lot more prepared for puck drop in Game 4 than they were in Game 3, when the Canucks came out hitting aggressively and taking the play to the home side. The Oilers were on their heels in the opening 20, accumulating a 3-1 deficit which they were unable to overcome in the final 2 periods despite a monumental effort. In short, the Oil will need a 60-minute, 200-foot effort to get the job done, a fairly normal expectation at this time of year. The new lines and pairings, hypothetical as they may be at this point, suggest a more balanced split of ice time than in the prior 2 games. For example, the threesome of Bouchard, McDavid and Draisaitl combined for a mind-boggling 90:10 of ice time in Game 3. That’s not sustainable, and there is concern as to how much each of those workhorses might have in the tank at this point in time. Meanwhile, 5 forwards played single-digit minutes with 2 others under 12. That’s something of a gamble even when it works. On Sunday it did not, necessitating a new path. Recently at the Cult of Hockey STAPLES: Edmonton Oilers Old Boys Club delivers a message STAPLES: Social media explodes around Soucy-McDavid incident STAPLES: Another playoff season, another goaltending controversy in Oil Country LEAVINS: 9 Things McCURDY: Oilers vs. Canucks — how they were made Player grades: McCURDY: Game 3 — Canucks 4, Oilers 3 STAPLES: Game 2 — Oilers 4, Canucks 3 (OT) LEAVINS: Game 1 — Canucks 5, Oilers 4 Follow me on X-Twitter @BruceMcCurdy
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