Oilers get full effort to blank Jets at home; Goaltending an issue no more?

It was a complete, full 60 minutes effort from the entire Edmonton Oilers team from top-to-bottom to defeat the Western Canada rival Winnipeg Jets at home on Friday night. Oilers starting goalie Calvin Pickard stopped all 21 shots to pick up the shutout in their 4-0 win.

The Oilers entered this game with a typical preseason lineup without key star players like; Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Evan Bouchard, Mattias Ekholm, and Stuart Skinner.

Instead the majority of the roster was compiled of depth veterans who are battling for spots in the lineup and rookies who are doing the same. All of the players battling for spots could also be battling to be a call-up option midway through the year.

Defenceman Darnell Nurse opened the scoring with a slapshot from the point. The Oilers never lost their lead after that, getting contributions from veteran Kasperi Kapanen as well as rookies Noah Philp and European free agent signee from the DEL, Josh Samanski.

Takeaways

Although the usual argument everyone makes is that it is 'just preseason' it can give a good indication of the readiness of players and is important to develop storylines and can help to spot trends. It can also be a positive or negative for players on the bubble, as has been evidenced here for the Oilers.

Calvin Pickard has shown he is in regular season shape, picking up the shutout. Although he was not tested by the Jets stars like Mark Scheifele or Kyle Connor, he was up against some legitimate NHL level talent. He stood tall and for a team that has some serious anxiety between the pipes, that is all that matters.

Once again as well, plenty of rookies showed up in this game. Noah Philp has done a lot of good for his stock in the preseason this year, helping create offence and playing a solid shutdown centre role. This is by design looking at his post-game comments "For me it's a defensive focus & usually that leads to offence if you're doing that well."

He has shown worthy of a bottom-six centre spot with some serious secondary scoring abilities that will serve the Oilers well.

Speaking of rookies, Oilers free agent signee Josh Samanski was impressive yet again. His play drew praise from head coach Kris Knoblauch saying "Right from day one of main camp at practices & the games he's played, he's showed very well... He's looking like a player that has promise & can be in the NHL at some point."

Players of the game

Calvin Pickard

The netminder is undoubtedly worthy of being a highlight here, he stood on his head and was rewarded with a shutout, stopping all 21 shots he faced. For my money, he was the player of the game for the Oil.

The Oilers fourth line

Samanski scored a goal but playing alongside Viljami Marjala and Roby Jarventie, they looked lethal. They were a line that was highlighted in the preview and for good reason. It was a line that brought a good blend of size, grit, and skill that could really impress lower down the lineup.

Noah Philp

Philp was another goal scorer and played a shutdown third line centre role, putting his defensive abilities on full display. If he can keep up his two-way play, he should have an inside track to become the Oilers fourth line centre.