Edmonton Oilers play musical chairs with goalie starter’s net just now

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This in from Tony Brar of Oilers TV, news that Calvin Pickard is in the starter’s net for the Edmonton Oilers today as they prepare for Tuesday’s Game 1 vs the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch had Stuart Skinner in the starter’s net at Sunday’s practice.

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Knoblauch has said he’ll make his decision on which goalie will start against Vegas before the game, so presumably on Tuesday.

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Today he added, “I feel that we have two goalies that can give us a great game and win us that night every single time. I’d say I’m very fortunate to have that opportunity.”

EDM lines & pairings – Monday’s skate:

Draisaitl – McDavid – Perry
Kane – RNH – Hyman
Frederic – Henrique – Brown
Podkolzin – Janmark – Arvidsson

Extras: 53, 42, 46, 10 (Skinner, Kapanen, Jones, Ryan)

Nurse – Bouchard
Walman – Klingberg
Kulak – Emberson

Extras: 51, 85 (Stecher, Dineen)

Pickard
Skinner

My take

1. Winning the next game is all that matters in the playoffs. Whatever Knoblauch says, and whatever games he’s playing now in practice in order to unsettle Las Vegas, It’s hard to imagine that the Oilers will move away from Calvin Pickard, who just won four straight games to help vanquish the Los Angeles Kings, in favour of Stuart Skinner, who lost the first two games against the Kings.

2. Pickard let in an iffy goal on an outside shot from Brandt Clarke early in Game 6, but he then stopped seven straight Grade A shots in a row from the Kings early in the game. That included huge saves on Trevor Moore’s breakaway, two tough inside shots, one by Jeff Malott, one by Mikey Andersson, and another breakaway, this time Warren Foegele, early in the second. He made a huge stop off a rebound with five minutes left, this time foiling Clarke in the crease.

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That bad early goal against had me wondering if there was a Game 7 whether Skinner might play. But Pickard’s big saves the rest of the game made a huge statement.

3. I strongly suspect the Oilers will go with a “win and you’re in” mentality for the Vegas series. If a goalie wins a game, he’ll play the next one. If he loses, he’ll be out.

If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.

But, again, one advantage that Edmonton has over 2023 when they lost to Vegas is that the team is willing to quickly turn to the second goalie if the first one isn’t getting the job done. In 2023, the Oilers had little trust in Jack Campbell so stuck with Skinner, even as he struggled against Vegas. This year, Pickard has proven himself to the equal to Skinner for now.

Neither goalie is Grant Fuhr, 1984-88. But both goalies can get hot and provide solid netminding.

4. In four games Pickard had a .893 save percentage, while Skinner had an .810 save percentage in two games. Again, this favours Pickard getting the next game.

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5. The Oilers are evidently sticking with Darnell Nurse and Evan Bouchard in the top-pairing, an ill-advised move. The two struggled against Los Angeles, leaking goals against.

Brett Kulak did not make one major mistake on a goal against the Kings at even strength. Nurse made six, Bouchard five. On three goals, Nurse and Bouchard both combined to make major mistakes.

This pairing isn’t working. Not sure why Oilers defensive coach Paul Coffey doesn’t change things up.

Why not go with Bouchard and Jake Walman, for example, pairing Nurse with clever John Klinberg?

The Oilers could also bring back Troy Stecher to the line-up and pair him with Nurse. The two were solid enough in the regular season.

At the Cult of Hockey

STAPLES: Veteran d-man spells out Vegas Golden Knights’ secret sauce for winning. Can Oilers copy it?

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