After Pickard wins, Knoblauch declines to announce the starting lineup for Game 5.

After Calvin Pickard made 19 saves in his first career playoff start on Tuesday, leading the Edmonton Oilers to a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks in Game 4, head coach Kris Knoblauch declined to designate his starting lineup for Game 5.

Pickard, 32, took over for Stuart Skinner during the third quarter of Sunday’s 4-3 Game 3 loss before being anointed the starter earlier in the day. In his NHL playoff debut on Sunday, he was put to the test just a little bit, blocking all three shots he faced. In Game 4, he maintained his shutout run for two periods, blocking the first thirteen shots he faced.

With two goals on eight shots in the third period, the Canucks erased Edmonton’s two-goal lead; but, with just 39 seconds remaining, Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard scored the game-winning goal to keep the game out of OT.

Pickard remarked, “I don’t know if it’s quite sunk in.” And we’ve won big thanks to it.

“It’s an exciting opportunity for me, obviously, having made my (NHL) debut ten years ago and not really getting playoff action at either level.”

“Now that the guys have performed admirably in front of me, it’s best of three.”

In the net, Pickard “looked like a guy who’d played 100 playoff games,” according to Knoblauch, who lauded him but did not promise to remain with him in Game 5.
Pickard played in 23 games with the Oilers in the regular season, going 12-7-1 with a 2.45 goals against average and a.909 save percentage. He started the season in the AHL but was called up to the Oilers when Jack Campbell was waived by the team due to early-season problems.

Prior to this, Skinner had started every Oilers playoff game this spring. In his first seven games, he had given up 21 goals on 188 shots, good for a 2.96 goals-against average and an.888 save %. In the team’s first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, he recorded a shutout in Game 4. However, he has struggled in the second round, giving up 12 goals on 58 shots against the Canucks. On fifteen, he let up four goals shots in Game 3 before being replaced by Pickard.