Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard is expected to miss the remainder of the Western Conference semifinal series against the Vegas Golden Knights due to an injury, according to a TSN report on Monday.
Later Monday, with veteran Stuart Skinner in net, the Oilers defeated the Golden Knights, 3-0, in Game 4, securing a 3-1 series lead. Skinner made 23 saves in the victory.
Pickard has won all six starts in the net for the Oilers during this postseason run. After Edmonton lost the first two games against the Los Angeles Kings in the first round, coach Kris Knoblauch replaced Skinner, the team’s regular-season starter, with Pickard. The 33-year-old career backup posted wins in the next four games to help the Oilers oust the Kings and then earned victories in the first two games of the second round in Las Vegas.
Golden Knights forward Tomas Hertl fell into Pickard’s left leg during the Oilers’ 5-4 overtime triumph on May 8. The Moncton, New Brunswick, native finished the game but has not practiced since. With Skinner back in the net, host Edmonton lost 4-3 in Game 3, as Vegas forward Reilly Smith scored with 0.4 seconds remaining.
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TSN reported “it will probably be at least a week” before Pickard could return, and during Game 4 on Monday night, Olivier Rodrigue was the backup netminder on the bench. Rodrigue, 24, played in just two games for Edmonton in his first NHL season.
Prior to Monday’s shutout, Skinner, who starred during the Oilers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final last spring, had allowed 15 goals in just 168 minutes of playing time this postseason and owns a lowly save percentage of .817. During the regular season, Skinner went 26-18-4, with a 2.81 goals-against average and an .896 save percentage.
Since falling down 2-0 to the Kings, the Oilers have won seven of eight postseason games. Game 5 is back in Las Vegas on Wednesday night.
Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.
