It has, however, increasingly become his problem.<\/p>\n
Connor Ingram has arrived on the scene and is slowly playing his way into the picture as a tandem mate to Tristan Jarry.<\/p>\n
So, if Jarry has one of the chairs and Ingram is comfying up in the other, where does that leave Pickard?<\/p>\n
Playing like his hair\u2019s on fire, that\u2019s where, stealing a game in Winnipeg by a 3-1 score \u2014\u00a0a rare moment in recent Oilers history where the other team leaves the building knowing it got goalied.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalvin was our best player,\u201d said his head coach, Kris Knoblauch. \u201cUnfortunately for Picks, we\u2019ve played some of our worst hockey when he’s been in there, and that’s been reflective in his stats. It hasn’t looked that good, but we just haven’t been that good in front of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pickard ate Sunday dinner with family in the town that sent him and his older brother, Chet, on long Western Hockey League careers as goalies. The next night, he ate the Jets\u2019 lunch.<\/p>\n
\u201cSteak, ham, perogies, rice, Caesar salad,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a Pickard special.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so was his performance in front of family and friends. The Jets wired a season-high 42 shots at Pickard, who was beaten only on one bouncy, sloppy puck that Adam Lowry fished through his pads from the top of the crease.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s a pro\u2019s pro, a backup\u2019s backup. A survivor who\u2019s been in pro hockey since 2011 and, after all he\u2019s been through with the Oilers, still finds himself fighting to stay on the roster once Jarry gets healthy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere’s some time between starts here,\u201d he admitted. \u201cBut I’m confident. I’m in my third year here, I\u2019m confident behind the group and just trying to do my job.\u201d<\/p>\n
Winnipeg really poured it on in the third period, with 16 shots on goal. Leon Draisaitl<\/a> had a key shot block in the dying moments, and Zach Hyman<\/a>\u2019s defensive play stripped a puck from the dangerous Kyle Connor, just as he was readying to rifle one at the Oilers\u2019 goal.<\/p>\n Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.<\/p>\n![\"32](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/32-Thoughts-podcast-Elliotte-Friedman-Kyle-Bukauskas-640x360.jpg\")
32 Thoughts: The Podcast<\/p>\n