Controversial Edmonton Oilers aces suddenly feeling the love from NHL experts

This in from former NHL stars Devan Dubnyk and Ray Ferraro, praise for several Edmonton Oilers playoff aces who were repeatedly blasted by large groups of Edmonton fans throughout the regular season.

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All it took was a six-game playoff winning streak. Suddenly players such as goalie Calvin Pickard and Evan Bouchard are feeling the love.

Dubnyk, a former Oilers goalie, said he had doubts about Pickard before the playoffs. Speaking on the Real Kyper & Bournw show, he said: “Pickard had a great season. He did his job, he played well, he played more than he ever had. Nothing knocking against Pickard, but I just said, ‘If Edmonton is going to go all the way, they need Stuart Skinner.’ … I felt like there was something drastic was going to have to happen.

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“And then all of a sudden after Game Two (the first two losses against the Los Angeles Kings), it just looks so dire for Edmonton. You know, it wasn’t just Skinner. It was just that every goal that went in, the whole fan base, everything was just ready to jump all over them. And the team just had no jump in front of them. And it was just something needed to change. And so I got asked after Game Two, I was like, ‘Yeah, you got to put Pickard in there, because this is a guy who’s battled.’ He’s not your most structured. He plays a little street hockey. But the guys play comfortable in front of him. They battle for him. They know he’s gonna battle for them. And they kind of just needed like an exciting save.

Dubnyk continued: “Skinner just hadn’t come up with a big save. The way he plays is very structured as well. They needed some sort of boost. And Pickard comes in here and he does… You get some saves that maybe normally wouldn’t be that exciting can be a little exciting with Pickard… He’s done everything that’s asked of him more… He just seems to come up with the right one at the right time right now.

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“And you can look down the road and say, ‘Is that good enough to get them all the way? I would have questioned that at the start. But with how well Edmonton is playing right now and how aggressive they are being going the other way, and I think they’re playing extremely well offensively and defensively turning the pucks over, transitioning the other way. If they can keep that up and keep it to the point where, ‘Hey, we just need you to make two or three tough saves tonight and stop the ones that you should and we’ll spend most of the game in the other end,’ who knows? We could see it.

“He’s done an incredible job. … Like you don’t even want to say, ‘Pickard stood on his head.’ It’s just not not part of the conversation anymore. Nobody’s talking about the goalies. It’s great. That’s what they needed… And I think he’s given himself a leash now, too. You know, I think that for a while it was like, ‘Yeah, if he really slips up in a game, then that’s when you go back to Skinner.’… I might be eating my words on that one. But I think he’s earned himself a leash here. That if he does have a game that isn’t great and he doesn’t look good, I think he’s earned the opportunity to stay in there and continue to battle.”

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As for Bouchard, on the Ray & Dregs show, former NHL scoring ace Ray Ferraro said, “Evan Bouchard gets 80 points or whatever in the regular season. Half the time he’s stumbling around like he’s not quite connected to the game. Like I don’t understand like the highs and lows he has. But when he locks in, oh my god, he was so good last night (Game 2 against Vegas). So good.”

Ferraro also praised the Oilers depth players. “I’m just like it’s really 15 players have scored in the playoffs already for them. Like that’s a that’s a really impressive place to go and win a couple of games in.”

My take

1. Calvin Pickard has six straight wins, coming up with a handful of massive saves on 5-alarm shots in each of them. He’s building on his last month of the regular season when he came in and played steady hockey after Stuart Skinner was concussed and out because Mikko Rantanen drove his knee through Skinner’s head on a fly-by headed for the puck in late March.

2. Game Two against VGK was Pickard’s toughest night, with 21 Grade A shots from Vegas, 11 of them 5-alarmers. Edmonton had 19 Grade A shots and nine 5-alamers, with three of those 5-alarmers (from Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman and Connor Brown) hitting the post or the crossbar. When see look at the saves the goalies actually made, it would have been expected for Pickard to let in about 5.63 goals. He let in just found. It would have expected for VGK goalie Adin Hill to let in 3.98. He let in five. Essentially Pickard stole a win for the Oilers here.

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3. As for Bouchard, he was excellent in the playoffs last year and he’s now reached that same high level of excellence this year, give or take a few ugly plays against the Los Angeles Kings where he allowed breakaway chances or made a nasty turnover. His break-out passing is out of this world excellent right now. He’s picking apart the opposition with stretch passes, leading to Grade A and 5-alarm shots for the Oilers. In his own end, he’s getting his big frame in front of opposing attackers and the Edmonton net and also doing a credibly job on the penalty kill, shutting down plays and clearing the puck. He’s Edmonton’s No. 1 d-man with a bullet.

4. As for Edmonton’s depth players, forwards like Adam Henrique, Corey Perry and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins are the playing the best two-way hockey that we’ve ever seen for them with the Oilers in the playoffs. Perry and RNH were playoff disappointments last year at even strength, while Henrique disappointed this regular season, with many questioning why the Oilers kept him over fast, young Ryan McLeod. But all three players are bringing exceptional two-way play to the game just now, as are newcomers Jake Walman and John Klingberg on defence. All this is seen in a strong Grade A shots plus-minus for each of the players.

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