Oilers to start goaltender Calvin Pickard against the Canucks

In the first three games of the National Hockey League Western Conference semifinal series, the biggest story has been goaltending. The Vancouver Canucks have had great goaltending from Arturs Silovs of Ventspils, Latvia, while the Edmonton Oilers have had awful goaltending from Stuart Skinner of Edmonton, Alberta. The statistics, that we will discuss, do not lie, and as a result Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch has made the decision to start backup goaltender Calvin Pickard of Moncton, New Brunswick.

Skinner’s poor play against the Canucks

In three games against Vancouver, Skinner has given up 12 goals on 58 shots for a poor save percentage of .793. In all three games, Skinner has had a save percentage under .900. He gave up five goals on only 24 shots in a 5-4 Edmonton game one loss to Vancouver on May 8, three goals on 19 shots in a 4-3 Oilers overtime win over Vancouver in game two on May 10, and four goals on 15 shots during two periods of play in a 4-3 Oilers loss to the Canucks in game three on May 12.

Silovs’s great game three play against the Oilers

Silovs was not spectacular in game one of the series. Silovs only made 14 saves on 18 shots, but he gave up one less goal than Skinner. Then after giving up four goals on 31 shots in game two, Silovs was awesome in game three. He had 42 saves on 45 shots for a fantastic save percentage of .933.

Pickard only average down the stretch

The Oilers fans have every reason to be nervous of Pickard starting tonight. Despite having a respectable regular season goals against average of 2.45 and save percentage of .909, he played poorly in four starts against some of the NHL’s weakest teams down the stretch. Pickard was unable to beat the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 7, the Ottawa Senators on March 24, the Arizona Coyotes on April 12, or the Coyotes on April 17.