Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch is addressing the elephant in the room - the state of his team's goaltending as they head into the 2nd round against the Vegas Golden Knights.
It seemed like all was lost for the Edmonton Oilers in their opening round series of the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings.
Goaltender Stuart Skinner was getting lit up left and right like a Christmas tree, and the Oilers returned home trailing two games to zero. Coach Kris Knoblauch decided to change things up by replacing Skinner with Calvin Pickard - from that point on, the series changed.
While Pickard was by no means perfect, he still managed to lead the Oilers to an eventual series win over the Kings, their 4th straight over Los Angeles in Round 1.
Heading into their 2nd round series against the Vegas Golden Knights, Knoblauch said that he hadn't made his final decision as to which goaltender will get the start for Game 1.
He then added the following:
I feel that we have two goalies that can give us a great game and win us that night every single time. I'd say I'm very fortunate to have that opportunity.
So far in the postseason, Pickard has gone 4-0 with a 2.93 GAA and a .893 SV%.
Meanwhile, what does former Oilers Stanley Cup-winning goaltender and Hall of Famer Grant Fuhr think? In his mind, Edmonton ought to ride the hot hand.
I would stay with Pickard, the playoffs are about momentum and the team has that now. Stu may still be the number 1 but I would go with the hot hand and if Pickard has a tough stretch, then you can go back to Skinner.
Will Knoblauch take Fuhr's advice?
