Pickard made 26 saves and helped the Oilers weather a rocky start against the Seattle Kraken as Edmonton won its third game in a row and moved back into first place in the Pacific Division with a 4-2 victory in captain Connor McDavid’s return from a three-game suspension.

Calvin Pickard helped backstop the Oilers to a solid 4-2 victory over the Kraken last night, but his backup also got some attention.

A 9-1 roll is as about good as it gets for an NHL backup. Heck, that’s a wicked run for an $8 million starter. In a salary cap era where every penny counts for a team looking to load up for the playoffs, Pickard and Skinner punching above their salaries makes Edmonton’s goaltending budget ($3.6 million) the envy of the league.

Not exactly a masterpiece at Rogers Place on Monday night, but the Edmonton Oilers ’ mastery of the Seattle Kraken continued with an eighth consecutive victory for the blue and orange. As was the case in Seattle at the beginning of the month, the Oilers walked away with a 4-2 win, an emtpy-net goal sealing the deal in each instance.

Mattias Janmark scored a goal… On a goalie.  A tying goal in the first period by Janmark was his first goal with a goalie in the net since June 24th of last year.

Because a backup doesn't play every game they don't need to be game-breakers. They just need to come in and give their team the best chance to win. Luckily for the Oilers, Pickard has delivered that in spades. Despite the odd bad goal allowed, the Oilers have a really good goalie situation.

The Oilers look to win their fourth straight game on Thursday night when they continue their six-game homestand at Rogers Place against the Red Wings

Calvin Pickard will get a chance to extend his personal win streak on Monday. The goaltender will start for the Edmonton Oilers against the visiting Seattle Kraken, looking to improve to 5-0 in January. The choice was made easy for Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch with Stuart Skinner away awaiting the birth of his child.

Zach Hyman had two goals and an assist, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Vancouver Canucks 6-2.

The Edmonton Oilers dealt with an EBUG situation as Stuart Skinner wasn’t in the goal for the team on Monday night against the Seattle Kraken. He wasn’t backing up Calvin Pickard, either.

The Detroit Red Wings begin a four-game Western swing when they face the host Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night.