The Edmonton Oilers have been the best team in the NHL since late November, in the process surging up the standings and with a genuine shot at securing home ice advantage in the Western Conference. However, this is an organisation not prepared to rest on their laurels.
Speculation continues about making moves ahead of the Mar. 7 trade deadline, in order to further strengthen an already dangerous roster. This includes potentially bringing in a top-four pairing defenceman and boosting the bottom six.
Another possibility is finding another goalie to help solidify the position between the pipes, in large part due to a middling .901 team save percentage which ranks 16th in the NHL as of Tuesday morning. However, we would contend this should not be a priority for the Oilers.
Stuart Skinner is still too inconsistent for a starting goalie, but overall his talent is undeniable and he has -- for the most part -- improved following a slow start to the 2024-25 campaign. As for Calvin Pickard, he played well enough last season to earn a two-year extension, and is arguably even better this time around.
Calvin Pickard doing better than some people realise
In this respect, Pickard actually has a better winning percentage, quality starts percentage and Goals Against Average than Skinner so far in 2024-25. Not that we are advocating for him to take over as the new number one in Edmonton.
Still, there remains critics who believe the Oilers need to upgrade their goalie situation in preparation for the playoffs. As such, Monday night presented an opportunity for Pickard to show what he could do, with Skinner away for the birth of his second child.
At least Pickard wasn't caught completely unaware about what was going on with his goalie teammate. As per Jamie Umbach, he said:
"I knew it was close to kid time for him. I got a text that he was heading to the hospital last night, so I went to bed preparing to play. It felt like a similar game day to the rest of them and it was nice."
Admittedly things did not start out too well for the 32-year-old, as he gave up a goal less than four minutes into the game against a hot Seattle Kraken team. By the end of the first period he had allowed two goals on 12 shots and the Oilers were trailing 2-1.
Calvin Pickard turns it on for the Oilers
After then however, Pickard was exemplary in net, not allowing any more goals for the remainder of the game. Couple this with three from that man Connor McDavid, the pesky Corey Perry and Mattias Ekholm, and the Oilers won 4-2.
Pickard, while not taking anything even remotely for granted, knew what his teammates were capable of despite the early deficit. He said:
"We're an explosive team. I think there's been a lot of games where I've played this year where we're down after the first, but, we don't get discouraged. We expect to come back in games. We play really well when we're down, so after the first, it's 2:1 and it's frustrating. It's not the start you're looking for, but it was right there for us. A big goal right at the start of the second and we got the lead and didn't look back."
Of course none of this would have mattered if Pickard hadn't stepped up his game over the final 40 minutes, particularly in the second period. He made some crucial stops in the middle frame, including saving -- in more ways than one -- Evan Bouchard, who maintains his penchant for unnecessary and often costly mistakes.
Pickard actually ended up making a double save after Bouchard's error, which in turn resulted in a breakaway from Perry, who scored to give the Oilers their first lead of the night at 3-2. The game remained tight until Janmark scored his empty-netter inside the final minute, but the majority of the deserved headlines went to the goalie.
A first star performance
In all, Pickard saved 24 of the 26 shots he faced, and took home the First Star of the Game. He has now won four straight starts, eight of his past nine and his 13 overall wins are just two off his career high set in 2016-17.
Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch made sure to give his goalie due credit, when speaking to the media postgame. Also as per Umbach, he said:
"Picks made some huge saves at the end to keep us in it, especially for us to take the lead in the second period. He made a couple of big saves, and then we go down and score shortly after that. I think tonight, we just played well enough to win."
With the win, the Oilers move back up to first place in the Pacific Division and within four points of the Winnipeg Jets at the top of the Western Conference. There's still plenty to improve in order to get to where they want to be, but on the evidence of Monday night, Pickard shouldn't be one of the team's concerns.