Rodrigue makes first NHL start in net for injury-riddled Edmonton Oilers

It was the day Olivier Rodrigue was waiting for over the past seven years.

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Drafted 67th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2018, the native of Chicoutimi, Que., has been honing his craft in the American Hockey League on the farm team with the Bakersfield Condors.

But an injury bug that has wiped out the entire top crop of Oilers players like a swarm of locusts just ahead of harvest put the 24-year-old prospect between the pipes to make his inaugural NHL start Monday, wrapping up a four-game road trip against the Anaheim Ducks.

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And it’s been about as productive as can be without the likes of superstars Connor McDavid (who was sitting out his eighth straight game with a lower-body injury) and Leon Draisaitl (who got over one injury just in time to sit out with another), as well as defenceman Mattias Ekholm and John Klingberg and, of course, No. 1 goalie Stuart Skinner.

And with go-to backup Calvin Pickard playing the previous five games, it was time for Rodrigue to get tapped on the shoulder by head coach Kris Knoblauch.

“It’s very exciting,” the coach said. “You see a player who’s put his time and work in to get rewarded with a game.”

Truth be told, Pickard didn’t play the entirety of those previous five, getting the hook 40 minutes into a trouncing March 27 at the hands of the Seattle Kraken, after giving up five goals on 29 shots. Rodrigue quietly made his NHL debut stopping seven of the eight shots he faced in the third period on the way to a 6-1 loss.

The .875 save percentage and 3.00 goals-against average Rodrigue accrued in that unenviable situation to form his first stat sheet weren’t that far off Skinner (.894 and 2.91) and Pickard’s (.902 and 2.64), to sum up how things have kind of been going in net for the Oilers this season.

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But Monday marked a fresh start for the freshman ‘tender.

“We talked to him a couple days ago about the possibility of playing (Monday),” Knoblauch said following morning skate at Honda Center. “There was a lot of excitement because he’s waited so long. It’s exciting for him just to be up here and being with the team, and now to actually get your first start? I think he’s very excited.”

The evidence was in the smile Rodrigue couldn’t hide on his face ahead of puck drop.

“I’ve waited a long time for this and I feel like I’m ready, so I just want to go out there and enjoy it as much as I can but also give my best,” said Rodrigue, whose father, Sylvain Rodrigue, was the Condors goalie coach prior to joining the Florida Panthers AHL farm team, the Charlotte Checkers, last year.

“My family’s going to be there tonight, so it’s a pretty cool feeling and I’m sure they’re happy for me. My dad, my mom, my godmother, her girlfriend, my little cousin, my brother’s coming with his girlfriend, and my fiancee will be there too. A good group.”

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His career path included an equally long list, with sitting his entire rookie AHL season, the COVID-19 interruption, heading over to play in Europe before returning and playing a stint on the East Coast on the way to amassing a 43-36-9 record with the Condors, with a 3.28 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.

“I knew my chance was going to come, but at the same time you see those guys you played with, they made their debut a bit before me so you’re kind of wondering a little bit,” Rodrigue sold Sportsnet’s Mark Spector. “But at the same time, you don’t want to put too much thought into it.

“I think everything happens for a reason, so I’m sure my time was going to come and I just have to be ready for that day.”

PLAYING SHORTHANDED

The Oilers lineup consisted of 11 forwards and six defencemen, given a reaggravation to the ankle injury that has plagued forward Trent Frederic since coming aboard at the trade deadline March 7. He played little more than seven minutes of ice time in Saturday’s 3-0 shutout at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings before rejoining Edmonton’s expanding list of walking wounded.

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“He’s doing alright,” Knoblauch said. “Obviously, he didn’t play very much. Things flared up right from the first shift the other night, but we feel that, like a lot of our players, we’ll be fine and be ready for playoffs. But an immediate return is not going to happen.”

While Draisaitl rejoined the team to take part in the morning skate, he was not in the lineup against the Ducks.

“We are shorthanded,” Knoblauch said of the salary-cap crunch the Oilers are under, which hasn’t allowed them to recall anyone else from Bakersfield.

E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge

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