Oilers Name Starting Goalie, Reveal Lineup With Two Missing Players For Tonight's Game

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Liam McCormick
November 18, 2024 (10:07)

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The Edmonton Oilers took the ice for practice today in Montreal ahead of tonight's game against the Canadiens, naming Cal Pickard as their starting goalie while still missing Victor Arvidsson and Darnell Nurse.

The Oilers will be running mostly the same lineup as their last game against the Leafs, including Corey Perry in Arvidsson's spot. This time, Josh Brown will come in for Darnell Nurse.

Darnell Nurse suffered an injury after a horrible hit from Ryan Reaves, but at this moment, the extent of his injury is not known. The Oilers released an update that Nurse was alert and in good spirits, but it's unknown when he will be able to return.

It's surprising to see Victor Arvidsson expected to be unavailable for tonight's game. The Oilers didn't recall a forward and instead played 7 defenceman in his absence, indicating that Arvidsson's injury was minor and his return would be imminent.

Now that he's missing three games, it's a little puzzling why the Oilers didn't call up a forward - unless Arvidsson's injury is worse than they initially thought. There's some concern that Arvidsson is an injury prone player, given that he's never played a full season in his 11 year career.

Coach Knoblauch turning to Calvin Pickard for tonight's start is a telling sign of frustration with Stuart Skinner's inconsistency. Last game against the Leafs, Skinner allowed the last 3 shots on goal to give Toronto a comeback win.

With Knoblauch turning to Pickard tonight, it solidifies a trend of the backup taking more starts away from Skinner this season. Both netminders have a save percentage far below league average of .900, and the Oilers desperately need one of them to get hot.

Analyst Bruce McCurdy of the Edmonton Journal recently addressed the Oilers struggles in net and suggested that Knoblauch is considering moving away from Skinner as the de-facto starter.

» Best guess here is that coach Kris Knoblauch will start Pickard in Montreal on Monday, Skinner in Ottawa Tuesday, and whichever one performs better when the Oilers host Minnesota on Thursday.»
- Bruce McCurdy, Edmonton Journal

The Oilers will insert defenceman Josh Brown into the lineup on the third pair, who was recalled from the AHL yesterday.

The Oilers signed the veteran defender to a 3 year contract in the offseason but his play was so poor in training camp, that Brown was cut from the team and waived before the regular season. However long he has with the Oilers now, it will be huge for him to prove he still has NHL abilities.

Edmonton has begun to bounce back a bit after their 0-3 start to the season, but they're clearly still not at the level hockey fans know they can play at. Hopefully, they can take some motivation from the terrible loss in Toronto to improve tonight.