The Los Angeles Kings were able to get the job done on Monday night in the first game of the series against the Edmonton Oilers. Early on it seemed like they were going to cruise to a win, but the Oilers made a huge comeback to tie it at five late in the third.
However, Phillip Danault found the back of the net shortly after in the final minute of regulation to give the Kings a 6-5 win. For the Oilers, they have to feel good about how they finished, but are still in search of some answers, and one of the changes they might be looking at is in net.
On Tuesday, head coach Kris Knoblauch did not want to name a starter after the performance of Stuart Skinner, who allowed all six goals on 30 shots. According to Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic, a decision won't be made until tomorrow morning on who will get the start.
Los Angeles Kings must now prepare for two goalies for Game 2
The level of gamemanship from Knoblauch is smart as now the Los Angeles Kings won't know who they will be facing in net for Game 2. The good news for the Kings is that they have had success against both Skinner and his backup Calvin Pickard.
Pickard in the regular season went 22-10-1 in 31 starts with a save percentage of .900 and a goals against average of 2.71. However, he had two starts against the Kings and lost both with a save percentage of only .891 and a goals against average of 3.52.
When looking at Pickard's regular season stats alongside Skinner, who went 26-18-4 with a save percentage of .896 and a goals against average of 2.81, there was a case to be made to start Pickard in Game 1. However, Skinner was excellent in the two starts against the Oilers as he went 1-0-1 but allowed only four goals in those two games and had a save percentage of .932.
Skinner is also the more experienced goalie with 36 career playoff starts while Pickard has only two. It would be tough for the Oilers to put the inexperienced goalie in a spot where Edmonton is trying to not go down two games in the series.
My guess is that the Oilers stick with Stuart Skinner for this game and if the Kings are to win again, they make a switch to Calvin Pickard for Game 3, which will be back in Edmonton.