The Edmonton Oilers kicked off their second-round series against the Vegas Golden Knights with a huge Game 1 win, but it would take an equally strong effort in Game 2 if our boys were going to grab both of these road games. And while we got the 5-4 overtime win we wanted, none of us could have predicted the rollercoaster ride it took to get there. What a win. What a hockey game.

CALVIN PICKARD STAYS UNDEFEATED

It’s not very often I would say that Calvin Pickard was the Oilers’ best player despite allowing four goals, but I believe that was the case in Game 2. On a night when the skaters in front of him didn’t necessarily have their A-game, Pickard was called upon countless times to come up with a big save, and he rose to the challenge. One-timers were coming in from everywhere, there were chances on the doorstep, and there were second and third whacks happening at the puck around the crease on nearly every shift, but Pickard held his ground and stood on business. Even though no one is writing home about a .875 save percentage for our pal Cal, you can’t deny that it’s still a better number than Adin Hill’s .865 save percentage.

The result was Pickard locking down his sixth consecutive win after taking over the crease in Game 3 against the Kings, as he continues to get his teammates steady but not necessarily spectacular goaltending. The thing I love about how he’s playing right now is that he’s been able to maintain an even keel even when something goes sideways. He doesn’t really seem to get rattled all that much, and he finds a way to get refocused and back to work. It’s a trait that paid off more than a few times in Thursday’s OT win and has put Calvin Pickard in a position no one could have imagined a year ago. But how can you argue with the results when you’ve won six straight games?

JAKE WALMAN KEEPS GETTING BETTER

I love how Jake Walman has been played through the Oilers’ first eight playoff games. Quietly steady every time he’s on the ice, the guy has a knack for calming things down even when the pressure is cranking up. Whether it’s a strong breakout pass or a key blocked shot to negate a scoring chance, Walman is playing the kind of greasy hockey it takes to win in the playoffs. While he’s not playing the most minutes back there — that honour usually goes to Evan Bouchard — he’s vacuuming up the 20+ minutes he is getting, and he’s doing it with strong puck management and personal sacrifice.

I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t know much about Walman when Stan Bowman traded for him at the deadline, he’s showing on a nightly basis why he was a solid acquisition target. With Mattias Ekholm still out of the lineup, other guys have had to step up and handle more minutes, and I love how Walman has been able to do that. In 21:58 of TOI, Walman finished the game with a goal, five blocks, one hit, and a +2 rating. I know nobody cares about +/- anymore, but it’s hard not to notice how Walman keeps ending up on the right side of the ice when the goal light goes off. I love the guy.

ANOTHER UNDISCIPLINED START

If I were the Oilers, I would simply stop gifting Vegas four minutes of power play time to kick off these games. As much as I agree that the PK needs more practice, I don’t know that calling upon them for a double header in the first few minutes is the smartest strategy. Tough calls, bad luck, or whatever you want to call it, the Golden Knights will produce enough opportunities for themselves without the Oilers helping them out every night, and it was a serious bummer to see the same problem happen two games in a row.

To make matters worse, Edmonton’s penalty kill is not getting any better. The boys are giving up a goal or two almost every night, and that’s a problem they need to solve before the PK becomes an even bigger liability than it already has been. Remember how cool last year’s run was when the Oilers almost got better when they were down a man? I would pay all the riches in Gregor’s kingdom for another stretch like that. All I know for sure is that having your penalty kill hovering around 60% makes the road to winning hockey games a hell of a lot harder to navigate. So, what’s the lesson? STAY OUT OF THE BOX!

OTHER THINGS WORTH MENTIONING