LAS VEGAS — Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard was confirmed to start Game 1 of the second-round series Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights after Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch was cagey on the subject.
Pickard went 4-0 with a with 2.93 goals-against average and an .893 percentage after replacing Stuart Skinner with half a period remaining in Game 2 of the first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings. The Oilers trailed 2-0 in the series after that game.
While there seemed little reason for a goalie switch with the Oilers on a roll heading into the second round, Knoblauch didn't confirm Pickard until the morning before Tuesday's Game 1 at T-Mobile Arena.
"Right now, I guess our number one 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, next round, I don't know. We've got two goalies that can win us games.
"I would like it not to change because most likely, Picks has put in a good game and we've won that game and we would continue the same process, but I think we're comfortable with either goalie going in."
The 33-year-old Pickard from Moncton started 31 games in the regular season behind Skinner's 50.
Pickard's playoff experience before drawing into Round 1 was two starts and a chunk of a third period against Vancouver in the second round last year.
Pickard happened to play in Edmonton's last regular-season game against Vegas on April 1, when Skinner was sidelined with a concussion. Pickard made 20 saves in a 3-2 win at T-Mobile, but Knoblauch downplayed any playoff advantage his starter might have.
"It's not that Picks has a better view on their shooters, (or) the shooters have a better on him," the coach said. "Everyone has their pre-scouts, know what they're going to be looking for, whether from the Vegas standpoint, how they score their goals, how our goalie's letting goals. Everyone's doing their work.
"Maybe it allows him to feel a little more comfortable because he saw that team, but I think it's minimal."
The Vegas Golden Knights flipped between current starter Adin Hill and Laurent Brossoit en route to winning the Stanley Cup in 2023.
Both played in a six-game, second-round win over the Oilers that year. Brossoit was injured in Game 3 of that series, which Hill finished.
"I think 20 years ago it was all about one goaltender and it started to change a little bit," Knoblauch said. "Most teams are back and forth a little bit, and we're obviously in that same situation. Last year we went to the Stanley Cup finals, Game 7, and we needed both goalies to get us there."
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PENALTY KILL IMPROVEMENTS: Edmonton's penalty kill went from giving up five power-play goals on the Kings' first 10 chances to holding L.A. to 2-for-9 in four straight wins.
"We have confidence in our group," Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. "The first two games, they kind of dinged this up there, but we know that we can be a good PK and we understand how important special teams is in the playoffs.
"It can win games, it can win series, so we take a lot of pride in it, and we'll prepare for it."
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NET-FRONT NEEDS: The Vegas Golden Knights play a heavy defensive game in front of their own net, so Oilers crease-crowder Corey Perry predicts he and other Edmonton forwards need to dig deep to get to the blue paint.
"They're big, they're strong, but we can move the puck and it's just to see who has the will to go there and who has a fight to go there," Perry said. "You've got to be willing to go because that's where a lot of goals are scored in the playoffs."
Edmonton scored 15 of its 27 goals in the first round from the slot or edge of the crease.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 6, 2025.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
