{"id":411805,"date":"2026-01-15T22:02:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T22:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/411805\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T22:02:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T22:02:25","slug":"ingram-starts-over-pickard-against-islanders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/411805\/","title":{"rendered":"Ingram starts over Pickard against Islanders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kris Knoblauch chose Connor Ingram<\/a> over Calvin Pickard<\/a> for tonight\u2019s game, and the message is becoming clearer: Ingram\u2019s earned his spot, at least for now. We all know the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> can only carry three goaltenders for so long before someone has to head to Bakersfield. Tonight, the only place Pickard is going is the press box.<\/p>\n

And who knows? Maybe next week it\u2019s Ingram sitting. In fact, it probably will be. These are trial periods after all. The Oilers are figuring this out as they go, and nobody \u2014 including Knoblauch \u2014 seems entirely sure what the long-term plan looks like.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Connor\u2019s played very well,\u201d began the head coach. \u201cI think all but one start has been very solid. Some games have been really good. The last one against Chicago, I thought that was his best. But he\u2019s given us steady goaltending. He\u2019s made some big saves when we needed them, and, yeah, and we\u2019ve been happy with his play.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s about as clear an endorsement as you\u2019re going to get. Ingram has been steady. He\u2019s been reliable. He\u2019s given the Oilers a chance to win every time he\u2019s played. For a backup goalie, that\u2019s exactly what you want.<\/p>\n

But the situation is messy. Tristan Jarry is back from injury, which means the Oilers now have three NHL goaltenders on the roster. That\u2019s not sustainable. Someone\u2019s going to have to go down, or someone\u2019s going to have to be moved. The question is who, and when.<\/p>\n

Knoblauch admitted they\u2019re still figuring it out.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, this is new for us, and we haven\u2019t quite decided exactly what we\u2019re going to do right now,\u201d admitted Knoblauch. \u201cWe got to be careful on how much (Jarry) plays. (Tonight) is typically a game that he could have started, but he just came back from injury, (we\u2019re) giving him a little more time between games.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re not really set on exactly how we\u2019re going to do this with three goalies, if it\u2019s for the rest of the season, the next couple of weeks, a couple months? Whatever. But right now, we\u2019re just kind of playing it day by day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Playing it day by day. That\u2019s where things stand. The Oilers are managing Jarry\u2019s return carefully, which makes sense given he\u2019s coming off an injury. They\u2019re riding Ingram while he\u2019s playing well. And Pickard, who\u2019s been with the organization longer and has proven himself, is left waiting for his next chance.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an awkward spot for everyone. Pickard\u2019s a pro\u2014he\u2019ll handle it\u2014but sitting in the press box while two other goalies get starts can\u2019t feel great. Ingram\u2019s playing well, but he knows this might not last. Jarry\u2019s working his way back, trying to show he\u2019s healthy and ready.<\/p>\n

The Oilers are in evaluation mode. They\u2019re trying to figure out who gives them the best chance to win, who fits best, and who they can trust when the games get tougher down the stretch. Right now, Ingram\u2019s making a strong case. His performance in Chicago was his best yet, and Knoblauch acknowledged it.<\/p>\n

But next week? Could be Pickard\u2019s turn. Or maybe Ingram keeps playing well and Pickard stays in the press box.<\/p>\n

The only certainty is uncertainty. The Oilers are playing it day by day, and everyone\u2019s just going to have to deal with that for now.<\/p>\n

RNH-McDavid-Hyman<\/p>\n

Podkolzin-Draisaitl-Kapanen<\/p>\n

Howard-Roslovic-Savoie<\/p>\n

Janmark-Lazar-Frederic<\/p>\n

Ekholm-Bouchard<\/p>\n

Nurse-Emberson<\/p>\n

Walman-Stastney<\/p>\n

Ingram<\/p>\n

ARTICLE PRESENTED BY bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kris Knoblauch chose Connor Ingram over Calvin Pickard for tonight\u2019s game, and the message is becoming clearer: Ingram\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":411806,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-411805","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411805","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}