PROJECTED LINEUP: Oilers turning back to Pickard for Game 1 against Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS, NV – It's Calvin's crease to lose right now.

Goaltender Calvin Pickard will receive his fifth consecutive start of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs when the Edmonton Oilers open up their series against the Vegas Golden Knights with Game 1 at T-Mobile Arena on Tuesday, looking to get off to a better start than they did in Round 1 against the Los Angeles Kings.

The 33-year-old was the only netminder to go a perfect 4-0-0 in the First Round after he replaced Stuart Skinner for Game 3 against Los Angeles, backstopping the Oilers to four straight victories with an .893 save percentage and 2.93 goals-against average after they dropped the first two games of the series.

While it's Pickard who'll be between the pipes again tonight for the Oilers, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said their No. 1 goalie is being determined on a game-by-game basis, and that it feels inevitable that Skinner will get another opportunity in these playoffs with Edmonton having two capable options.

"Right now, I guess our No. 1 is the guy that gets a start, but that's changing from game to game," Knoblauch said. "We evaluate after every game, and I know there'll be a time when Stu's back in that net – whether that's Game 2, Game 4 or next round – but I think we've got two goalies that can win us games.

"When that changes, I don't know. But hopefully. I'd like it not to change because most likely, that means Picks has put in a good game, and we've won that game, so we would continue the same process. But I think we're comfortable with either goalie going in."

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said there's no difference in how the Oilers play when each netminder is in the crease and that they have full confidence in both of them to make the necessary saves when needed.

"We try to definitely play the same way – limit the high-danger chances and trust that when we need them, they're going to step up and make those big saves," Nugent-Hopkins said. "So we can't be changing how we're playing depending on who's in there. We have confidence in both guys.

Tuesday's pre-game skate was optional for the Oilers, but during their full-team practice at the Downtown Community Arena before the team's flight to Las Vegas on Monday morning, Coach Knoblauch had his top line loaded up with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl next to veteran Corey Perry.

With their depth having been a major factor in Round 1 against Los Angeles, Coach Knoblauch feels a lot more confident tapping into that by putting the two Oilers superstars on the same line and spreading out the rest of their depth up front as they try to match the four-line approach of the Golden Knights.

The Golden Knights ended their series against the Minnesota Wild with a top line of William Karlsson, Jack Eichel and Mark Stone that has the potential and confidence to play against anyone, and the Oilers will have to adapt on the fly depending on what their opponents throw out with the last change at home.

"We'll wait and see what they do," Knoblauch said. "We will obviously have our lineup and they'll be able to match, and we'll see what they want to do. If they want to go top line against top line, there are a lot of things that we have to be prepared for. I don't think they're a team that will want their matchups, but I don't think they're one to hide away from it. I think they feel comfortable with their fourth line playing some shifts against our top line because they feel comfortable with their depth and we're in that same situation."

Edmonton will have an element of size on every one of their four lines that will help make it difficult for Vegas' defencemen tying to defend their own net, while they feel they've struck a balance in scoring that contributed to them recording 15 even-strength goals in their opening series against Los Angeles.

The Oilers are preparing for a much more physical and grinding series against Vegas than what they experienced in Round 1.

"There's somebody on each line that can get to the front of the net that's willing to go there," Corey Perry said. "It's balance, and that's what we've been striving for. It's the balance and not leaning on the top guys all the time. So in the playoffs, you need depth to score, and that's what this lineup brings right now. Obviously, the physical intensity ratchets up as the playoffs go on."

View the Oilers Projected Game 1 Lineup vs. Vegas below:

Draisaitl - McDavid - Perry
Kane - Nugent-Hopkins - Hyman
Frederic - Henrique - Brown
Podkolzin - Janmark - Arvidsson

Nurse - Bouchard
Walman - Klingberg
Kulak - Emberson

Pickard
Skinner