Rule No. 1 in any training camp is don’t get hurt.
Results don’t matter, personal stats don’t matter. The only objective other than getting the timing down is to stay healthy for the start of the regular season.
So Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard gave everyone, including himself, a bit of a scare in Saturday’s 5-4 pre-season win over Seattle Saturday when he had to leave the game after a goal mouth collision.
Pickard went down hard after back-checking Oilers centre Noah Philp got steered into him at high speed midway through the first period. Pickard went down hard, hitting the back of his head on the iron, prompting a long visit from the trainer during the TV timeout. Pickard then headed to the dressing room, his night over after giving up one goal on seven shots.
It’s likely just precautionary, but the hearts skipped a beat in the management box. With 13 games in October, including a pair of back-to-backs, Stuart Skinner is going to need some backup.
“He’s just getting evaluated,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “We’ll have more to say (Sunday).”
Pickard arrived on the scene last season, picking up the slack when Jack Campbell got sent to the minors and he handled himself so well in 20 regular season starts (12-7-1) — and three playoff games when Skinner faltered — that the team signed him to a two-year contract extension in the summer and is counting on him to be a steady reliever this year.
Olivier Rodrigue took over in the net for the rest of the night and gave up three goals against on his first nine shots but settled in after that and stopped the next 12 in a row.
GAME NOTES: Edmonton’s first line got right after it, with Connor McDavid setting up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 3:08 of the first period, but Seattle would score the next two. … Philp is making a strong case to be an Oiler this season and he bolstered his case by scoring a nice goal from in tight after a pass into the slot from Mattias Ekholm and going 9-2 (82 per cent) in the face-off circle. … Travis Dermott, on the left side, and Troy Stecher made up Edmonton’s second defence pairing. … Ekholm finished with a three-point night, adding a goal in the second period and another assist in the third. … Derek Ryan had two primary assists, the second one a shorthanded beauty to set up a tap-in for Vasily Podkolzin. … Raphael Lavoie scored the 5-4 goal with 2:53 to go in the game, winning an open-ice puck battle, weaving through some traffic and scoring five-hole.
E-mail: [email protected]