Calvin Pickard was perfect for the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday. Interestingly, he won’t get sole credit for the shutout, however. Because Pickard was bowled over at the end of the second period, the NHL’s concussion protocol team called and forced his removal from the game at the 1:16 mark. Stuart Skinner was put in to finish the period.
Pickard wound up being fine. His removal from the game was merely cautionary. And, despite Skinner not needing to make a single save, he’ll get partial credit for the shutout. Pickard won’t care and Skinner will likely be bothered by it more than anyone, but a win is a win. They don’t ask how you got them, they just ask how many you got.
Oilers vs. Penguins: More Than Just the Shutout
This was an interesting game. For the Oilers, it was another dominant win over the Penguins, a team they have the number of this season. And, outside of the goaltending storyline, Darnell Nurse also was inches from a natural hat trick in the third period. He scored the Oilers’ final two goals of the game, and with just over a second left in the third, he almost scored again on a nice feed from Connor Brown.
Connor McDavid scored in just over a minute in the first to open the scoring. Mattias Ekholm had a nice one-timer to get on the board and the Oilers wound up 2-1-1 on their road trip. McDavid had three points in the win and has gone 6-11-17 in his last six games played versus the Penguins. The Oilers have won all six games, outscoring Pittsburgh 33-9.
More must-reads: