Calvin Pickard makes feelings known about his near-shutout game vs. Lightning

Calvin Pickard fended off the Tampa Bay Lightning offense for most of the game on Thursday, until the 17:28 mark in the third period, when Nick Paul equalised to make it 1-1. Unfortunately for the Edmonton Oilers goalie, Jake Guentzel scored in overtime to snatch one point from his team, after a solid performance where he made 33 saves.

Pickard's effort stood out for a team that definitely needed some lifting after a poor 7-4 result against the Washington Capitals in the previous day. The Oilers went ahead with 92 seconds on the clock when Trent Frederic scored, his first goal in 20 games. Leon Draisaitl earned the primary assist on the opener. Edmonton's blue line seemed different from the one that played the Capitals.

"I really liked how we played," Pickard said. "It's not the easiest back-to-back coming from Washington. But I feel like we do things the hard way. We like to do it the hard way. And right from the get-go, we had a good game. Obviously, in the third, they kind of took it to us. They're a great team as well. They had some good looks. But a very unfortunate result."

The 33-year-old himself didn't have the best of form, heading into the game with a 2-3-1 record this season. He would hope that Thursday's outing is a step taken in the right direction to improve on his current 3.87 Goals Against Average and .851 save percentage.

"Ever since I got here, I've been focused game by game. And it's the hardest league in the world to get into, and it's even harder to stay in. So, a really good game for me tonight. I need to build off that. I need to keep throwing that game out.

Kris Knoblauch commends Calvin Pickard despite loss

Edmonton Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch heaped praise on Calvin Pickard in his post-game media scrum on Thursday.

"Calvin Pickard is a very popular guy on the team," Knoblauch said. "He works extremely hard, and it'd be nice for him to get a reward for all that work that he does. And obviously, the team wants to get a win any night, but it would have been nice for him also."

Goaltending has been a point of concern for the Oilers since the start of the season. Stuart Skinner, their primary netminder, has a 7-6-3 record with a 3.00 GAA and .882 save percentage. Despite the duo's contributions in helping them to consecutive Stanley Cup Finals, their have been calls for trading them out for an upgrade.

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Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy