When asked if either their lingering hugs suggested he or Stuart Skinner knew that a trade was coming, Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard said absolutely not. When asked about why the long post-game embraces — that now look like signals both were aware something was up — he responded, “We were just screwing around with everybody.”
The media double checked to make sure he wasn’t still screwing around with them after the Oilers lost 4-1 to the Montreal Canadiens.
“Ya,” he confessed.
He added:
“Because after the first (hug) that happened — it was a long one, because I was so mad at letting that goal in with four seconds left, and we won 9-4 — and then you guys read into it too much. Then we were screwing around there after the next two wins. It doesn’t look like we were screwing around, obviously, with (a trade) happening. But that was the truth.”
The two netminders were joking around in one game, and by the next, one of them was gone.
Pickard Played Well In a Pitiful Performance by the Oilers
Pickard was not the reason the Oilers lost on Sunday night. In fact, he was the only reason Edmonton had a puncher’s chance, stopping four breakaways and being solid as the Oilers gave up Grade-A chance after Grade-A chance. This was not their best effort, crumbling under the man-to-man pressure of the Canadiens, who caused multiple turnovers, the most glaring of which was from Connor McDavid. He dished up a juicy one right in front of his netminder.
“We were forcing it,” said head coach Kris Knobauch after the loss. “The (four) breakaways we gave up were just puck management, just trying things in the offensive zone where we should have just put pucks in a safe spot. Picks (Pickard) bailed us out and gave us an opportunity to stay in the game, but it was just too much.”
The second goal was a giveaway. The final goal was too, when Trent Frederic didn’t get the puck deep. That last one might have been the goal Pickard would have liked back, but this was one of Pickard’s better games. “I haven’t played in 10 days, so it has its own challenges, for sure. But I’ve done it for years now. It can get frustrating, but it’s the hand I’m dealt. I just gotta go out and deal with it.”
As for the trade, Pickard and Skinner didn’t know it was coming, even if reports out there are that Skinner was ready to move on. “It’s definitely felt weird. You know, Skins and Cooley (Brett Kulak) just leave in the blink of an eye. Two big parts of our team since I’ve been here. Two good friends.”
Like Pickard and Skinner, who were just “screwing around, the Oilers looked like they were not doing much more either on Sunday, and the Canadiens made them pay for it. They’ll need to have a much better performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, especially if their new goalie in Tristan Jarry is taking on their former starter in Stuart Skinner.
Next: Oilers-Maple Leafs No Longer McDavid vs. Matthews as the Gap Widens?
