LAS VEGAS, NV – It’s Calvin’s crease to lose right now.
Goaltender Calvin Pickard will receive his fifth consecutive start of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Edmonton Oilers open up their series against the Vegas Golden Knights with Game 1 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday, looking to get off to a better start than they did in Round 1 against the Los Angeles Kings.
The 33-year-old was the only netminder to go a perfect 4-0-0 in the First Round after he replaced Stuart Skinner for Game 3 against Los Angeles, backstopping the Oilers to four straight victories with an .893 save percentage and 2.93 goals-against average after they dropped the first two games of the series.
While it’s Pickard who’ll be between the pipes again tonight for the Oilers, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said their No. 1 goalie is being determined on a game-by-game basis, and that it feels inevitable that Skinner will get another opportunity in these playoffs with Edmonton having two capable options.
“Right now, I guess our No. 1 is the guy that gets a start, but that’s changing from game to game,” Knoblauch said. “We evaluate after every game, and I know there’ll be a time when Stu’s back in that net – whether that’s Game 2, Game 4 or next round – but I think we’ve got two goalies that can win us games.
“When that changes, I don’t know. But hopefully. I’d like it not to change because most likely, that means Picks has put in a good game, and we’ve won that game, so we would continue the same process. But I think we’re comfortable with either goalie going in.”
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said there’s no difference in how the Oilers play when each netminder is in the crease and that they have full confidence in both of them to make the necessary saves when needed.
“We try to definitely play the same way – limit the high-danger chances and trust that when we need them, they’re going to step up and make those big saves,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “So we can’t be changing how we’re playing depending on who’s in there. We have confidence in both guys.
