LAS VEGAS, NV – Goaltender Calvin Pickard will make his first career start against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night when the Edmonton Oilers open up their four-game road trip at T-Mobile Arena.
Pickard was taken by the Golden Knights with the first pick in the 2017 Expansion Draft, but he never played a game for Vegas, and tonight will be his first opportunity to start against them while he makes his third start in a row for the Oilers with No. 1 goalie Stuart Skinner out with an upper-body injury.
"Great team over there," Pickard said. "I was obviously taken in the Expansion Draft. Never played a regular season game here, and I just haven't had the chance to play here or start a game against them anywhere. It's exciting."
"It's a team that we see quite often and a team that we're always fighting with, so a great team. They're good off the rush. They've got some big bodies, they get around the net pretty well, are a well-rounded team, so we're going to have to be ready."
Pickard made 26 saves in Saturday's 3-2 overtime victory in the Battle of Alberta for his 18th win of the season. The 32-year-old says his routine doesn't change whether or not he's playing once a month of a few times per week, but he's being relied upon right now as the starting goalie, and his play can only be judged upon how well he plays in the next game.
