Calvin Pickard can be a momentum shifter for the Edmonton Oilers

The Edmonton Oilers could use netminder Calvin Pickard as their momentum shifter in their second-round series against the Vancouver Canucks. The Oilers currently trail the Canucks 2-1 in the series and with Pickard likely to get the start in Game 4, the entire energy of the team can change.

Today on Daily Faceoff Live, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discuss the goaltending change and what it might bring to this Oilers squad that needs to get a bounce-back victory.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The Oilers are expected to make a goalie change ahead of Game 4, Stuart Skinner will be on the bench and Calvin Pickard will get his first Stanley Cup Playoffs start. Pickard had good numbers in the regular season, 12-7-0 and 2.45 goals against average. If the Oilers can get this version of Pickard tonight, I think this is a great coaching decision.

Frank Seravalli: They don’t even need that. They need passable goaltending, D-level goaltending even will get you a win probably. That’s how well the OIlers have played at varying points in this series. You could argue that they should be the ones with the 2-1 series lead had they just had marginal goaltending. I understand the change and we will see Pickard at the morning skate here in Edmonton soon.

Frank Seravalli: This is a massive decision, one that time will tell but I fully support and understand Knoblauch’s decision to get to that point. Think back to a year ago, the thought process is so to back to Skinner since he is the safe choice right?

Tyler Yaremchuk: He is the safe choice. The thing with Pickard, his numbers are good but the eye test feels a bit shaky, he’s not a super polished goalie.

Frank Seravalli: We talked about this before and one of the biggest critical errors Jay Woodcroft made last year was pulling Skinner four times in the playoffs and going back to him every single game. New coach this year, and numbers are the same, if not worse. The Oilers have gotten a .793 save percentage from Skinner in this series against Vancouver and when you get those numbers, you can’t win.