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Kristen Shilton
There is an art to becoming a full-time NHL starting goaltender.
There is art, too, in being a successful NHL backup.
It requires embracing the unknown. It’s preparing to play without actually playing. There are long stretches of no puck touches — but the expectation of delivering your best at a moment’s notice.
That kind of pressure isn’t for everyone. But Edmonton Oilers‘ goaltender Calvin Pickard isn’t just anyone. He has forged a career excelling in secondary roles, the classic blue-collar contributor exemplifying work ethic and a straightforward mentality. One day at a time. One game after another.
It’s not easy. Pickard just makes it seem that way.
“I guess you’d say he’s one of the rare goalies,” Oilers forward Evander Kane said. “He’s just a normal guy. He’s really popular in [our] room.”
And how. Pickard has helped save Edmonton from back-breaking deficits in this NHL postseason not once, but twice. And Pickard could be on track to keep the Oilers alive again as they face elimination in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET, TNT/Max).
That’s as pressure-packed as it gets, yet Pickard’s most recent efforts showcased a goalie at his peak.
Pickard entered the Final as Edmonton’s No. 2 behind Stuart Skinner. He looked on as the Oilers split the series’ first two games, and then entered troubled waters. Skinner started again in Game 3, and Florida pounded Edmonton 6-1. Coach Kris Knoblauch replaced Skinner with Pickard late in that debacle, where all Pickard could offer was cleanup duty.
Edmonton moved on to Game 4 with a 2-1 series deficit, carrying an undeniable whiff of fragility that was about to be painfully exposed.
Knoblauch passed over Pickard for Skinner as his starter. The result was disastrous. Skinner gave up three goals on 14 shots in the first period, for an .824 save percentage. Edmonton limped off the ice down 3-0 and Knoblauch had to do something.
Enter Pickard.
The 33-year-old took over Edmonton’s crease and backstopped them to a shocking comeback as the Oilers scored three second-period goals for a 3-3 tie heading into the third. Pickard was excellent holding off the Panthers’ attack with tough, critical stops that gave the Oilers a chance to offer some goal support at the other end. And Edmonton’s eventual 5-4 victory in overtime would not have been possible without Pickard’s 22 saves.
It was simple enough then that when the series returned to Edmonton tied 2-2 going into Game 5 on Saturday that Pickard would have at least 24 hours notice of his next playing time. That it was happening in the Cup Final could rattle other goalies who hadn’t actually started a full game in five weeks.
But then again, Pickard isn’t a typical backup. He’s built differently.
“I guess you could look at [Game 5] as the biggest game in my life, but the last game was the biggest game in my life until the next one,” Pickard said. “It’s rinse and repeat for me. It’s been a great journey; I’ve been to a lot of good places. Grateful that I had the chance to come to Edmonton a couple years ago, and this is what you play for. I’m excited.”
The game itself didn’t go to plan for Edmonton. The Oilers fell behind early — again — and this time no number of eye-popping stops by Pickard (including a massive one on Carter Verhaeghe in the first period) could save Edmonton from itself in a 5-2 loss.
Pickard’s stat line was weak — giving up four goals on 18 shots for a .778 save percentage — but Knoblauch wasn’t convinced he was the problem. Nor would Knoblauch commit to him for Game 6.
“I’m not going to make that decision right now after a tough loss tonight,” the coach said after Game 5. “But from what I saw, I think Picks didn’t have much chance on all those goals. Breakaways, shots through screens, slot shots. There was nothing saying that it was a poor performance.”
It was Pickard’s first loss in the postseason, a testament to his body of work. It wasn’t so long ago he was in control of the Oilers’ crease. A stronger team effort in front of Pickard could have him shining there again Tuesday; Edmonton has been outscored 15-8 in its past three games, a frustrating reality given the Oilers’ depth of offensive talent and defensive capabilities.
“The quality of opportunities were really good [in Game 5]so there’s no fault at Calvin at all on any of those goals,” Knoblauch said. “When the pressure’s not on [the goalies] that they have to make every single save to keep this close or keep us ahead [it’s better]. It’d be nice to get some goal support. [Game 5] was a case where we were having difficulty generating offense. It’d be nice to have that lead and play knowing that they have to open things up when they’re trailing.”
THE OILERS WERE in a bad spot midway through the first round.
They’d entered the playoffs among the field’s Cup favorites after making the Final a year ago, falling there in Game 7 to the same franchise they’re battling now. The Oilers rebounded in a strong regular season, finishing third in the Pacific Division with 101 points.
It was worrisome then that they started the postseason with a thud, falling behind 2-0 in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings. Skinner was Edmonton’s starter at the time, and had given up 11 goals in those two defeats. Pickard had watched (almost) all of it happen from the bench, save for a brief appearance late in Game 2.
Knoblauch tapped Pickard to start in Game 3. Cue another comeback.
Pickard helped the Oilers reel off four straight wins to vanquish the Kings and send Edmonton to the second round. He peeled off another pair of wins against the Vegas Golden Knights to spot Edmonton a 2-0 series lead — only to sustain a lower-body injury in Game 2 that would cut his magical postseason run off at 6-0-0 with an .892 save percentage and 2.76 goals-against average.
Edmonton again turned to Skinner, who responded with a sensational run of his own leading the Oilers through their Western Conference finals series against the Dallas Stars. The now-healthy Pickard was more of a spectator again. Biding his time had become second nature.
“The last couple of years, [Skinner] has played much more than I have,” Pickard said. “So, practice time is huge for me. [Our staff] has me dialed in when I’m not playing and doing different drills to replicate situations in games, and for when that chance comes.”
Pickard has learned how to leverage his reps, perceiving each one as meaningful even when the outcome is a foregone conclusion.
“Getting the time in Game 3 [of the Final] at the end, even when it was out of hand there [with the score]it’s still good ice time for me to get out there and see game action,” Pickard said. “That propelled me to be ready for Game 4. [Any of that] practice time’s huge.”
It’s also fitting for a goalie like Pickard — who can revel entering a rout — to be on the path to a potentially distinctive feat. According to ESPN Research, the last time multiple goalies on a Cup-winning team recorded decisions in a Final for non-injury related reasons was when the Boston Bruins alternated between Gerry Cheevers and Eddie Johnston in 1972. Cheevers started Game 1, Game 3 and the clinching Game 6 in that series.
Skinner and Pickard are also only the second tandem in NHL history to have each recorded at least seven victories in a single postseason, joining Marc-Andre Fleury (nine wins) and Matt Murray (seven) during the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ Cup run in 2017.
But Pickard’s road here wasn’t quite like his predecessors — or his current goalie teammate.
Pickard was drafted by Colorado in the second round at No. 49 in the 2010 NHL draft. His first and only season as a starter for the Avalanche was in 2016-17, when he filled in for injured Semyon Varlamov.
Colorado exposed him that summer in the expansion draft and Pickard was selected by Vegas, with the idea he’d be Fleury’s backup. But the Golden Knights also selected Malcom Subban off waivers and put him behind Fleury instead. Pickard was then put on waivers and picked up by the Toronto Maple Leafswho sent him to the minors.
From there, the New Brunswick, Canada, native kept moving around, waived by Toronto and then Philadelphia before a brief stint in Arizona. In July 2019, Pickard signed as a free agent with the Detroit Red Wings — his fifth team in two years — and still couldn’t take hold in the NHL. He toggled between the Red Wings and the American Hockey League for three seasons.
In July 2022, Pickard arrived in Edmonton … sort of. He signed a two-year, two-way deal with the club and spent his first season in the AHL. Pickard finally saw sustained NHL play the next season as the Oilers grappled with struggling starter Jack Campbell, giving Pickard his most games in the league (23) since 2016-17. That was enough to keep him on as Skinner’s backup this season.
The rest, as they say, is history. Pickard’s patience through the process has impressed those teammates now relying on him to pull them through to a Cup title.
“He’s been doing this for a long time, he has a ton of experience and been to a lot of different dressing rooms,” Kane said. “That can help you along when you do come on to different teams, making a little bit of an easier transition. Now you’re just seeing that off-ice translate on to the ice with his performance, and how much he’s helped us to where we are here today … in the Stanley Cup Final.”
If people weren’t paying attention to Pickard when he stepped in for Skinner against the Kings, there’s no doubt all eyes are on him now. It’s attention that Pickard has earned.
“[Pickard is] someone who’s just kind of stuck with it all along and he’s been a true pro and a great person all the way through,” Edmonton captain Connor McDavid said. “I think good people get rewarded and he works as hard as I’ve seen. Couldn’t be more deserving.”
KNOBLAUCH ISN’T ONE to be rushed.
He has been cagey about naming a starter throughout the Final. That will hold true again for Game 6.
“[It’s] a conversation with the staff, obviously our goaltending coach, Dustin Schwartz, but with all the assistants, the general manager,” Knoblauch said. “[We’ll] kind of weigh in how everyone feels and what’s best moving forward. It’s not an easy decision. We’ve got two goalies that have shown that they can play extremely well, win hockey games and we feel that no matter who we choose, they can win the game.”
Pickard’s numbers in the series (.878 SV%, 2.88 GAA) are stronger than Skinner’s (.860 SV%, 4.20 GAA) and they are on par for the entire postseason (Pickard holds an .886 SV% and 2.85 GAA to Skinner’s .891 SV% and 2.99 GAA). Their records, though, are quite different: 7-1 for Pickard, 7-6 for Skinner.
So, who gives the Oilers their best chance to win Game 6 and drag Florida back to Edmonton for a second straight Game 7 finale between these teams in the Cup Final?
If Pickard does get the call, it will be a culmination of 10 years of consistent effort to be trusted when there’s no tomorrow. There’s only the present moment — where the right backup goalie has always been trained to stay ready.
