Calvin Pickard made 41 saves as the Edmonton Oilers blanked the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0 Sunday afternoon.
“He is a brick wall back there,” Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse says. “As a D man and as a team mate he brings so much to the table and we are lucky to have him.”
It will go into the books as a shared shutout as Stuart Skinner briefly replaced Pickard in the second period.
The Oilers took the lead just 68 seconds into the game when Kris Letang gave the puck away to Connor McDavid at the Penguins blue line. McDavid walked in and beat Tristan Jarry with a wrister for his 24th of the season. Later in the first, Mattias Ekholm banged a one-timer past Jarry for his first goal since December 6.
Late in the second, Bryan Rust drove the net and ran into Pickard, who toppled back into the net. Pickard initially stayed in the game but then was removed by the NHL’s concussion spotter with 1:16 to go in the period. Skinner finished the second without facing a shot. Pickard was back between the pipes for the third.
Early in the third, Pickard moved to his left to deny Noel Acciari on a rebound. Jarry came up with a big save on Evander Kane in tight to keep it at 2-0.
Darnell Nurse scored goals 5:16 apart later in the third to seal it for the Oilers. He hadn’t scored since January 11.
Jarry made 38 stops.
McDavid had a goal and two assists.
“Picks played extremely well,” says Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “In our minds its his shutout.”
The Oilers, 39-21-3, will host the Washington Capitals on Wednesday (630 CHED, Face-off Show at 6:30 p.m., game at 8 p.m.).
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