PROJECTED LINEUP: Pickard back between the pipes for Game 4 vs. the Kings

EDMONTON, AB – Calvin Pickard will make his second consecutive start on Sunday night as the Edmonton Oilers enter Game 4 at Rogers Place looking to even their first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings.

Pickard stopped 24 shots in his team's 7-4 victory in Game 3 and will receive another opportunity between the pipes tonight after coming up with the saves he needed to preserve the Friday's win, especially in the third period by keeping LA from extending their lead before he made some crucial stops late in the contest.

The Oilers scored four straight in the third period, and the 33-year-old has proven that he'll always give his team a chance to win when he's in the crease.

Over five career playoff appearances (three starts), Pickard is 2-1-0 with a 2.92 GAA and .889 SV% after he assembled a career-best year in 2024-25 with a 22-10-1 record, a 2.71 GAA and .900 SV%.

“I think with Calvin, you can look at his win-loss record, and especially after January 1, he just finds ways to win hockey games,” Head Coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Whether it’s that we feel better in front of him or that he just comes up with big saves at key times, he's been able to [build] that win loss record. It's pretty flattering for him.

“In Game 3, he came up some big saves, especially in third period, and the ones I'm thinking about were at the end of the game with a two-goal lead where he was outstanding. But early in the third period, there was a couple of good chances. I know one was with Byfield coming down, and you know if he doesn't make that save, they have a two-goal lead third period and it’s pretty tough for us to overcome.

“He came up with some clutch saves.”

Coach Knoblauch will roll out the same forward and defence combinations that started Friday's Game 3 at Rogers Place, and defenceman Troy Stecher is officially healthy for the Oilers and could be the next player from Edmonton's long list of injuries who comes back on the blueline if needed.

"If we have an injury, or if somebody else doesn't play well, we know that Troy's going to give his all whenever we need him, and we know what kind of game he's going to give us and we're comfortable with that," Knoblauch said.

"Coming off Game 1, I thought our group played really well and we're just going to continue with the six that we have."

The Oilers will hope that their recent returnees to the lineup – Trent Frederic, Evander Kane, John Klingberg, Jake Walman and others – are getting more comfortable with the pace of playoff hockey, and Game 3 was a great example that those players are slowly but surely elevating their games.

"I felt the best last game," Frederic said. "I felt like I was skating better and not thinking as much, and with a new team, you're thinking systems and all that stuff, so I'm just trying to just go out and play and skate."

Zach Hyman was on the list of Edmonton's injured list after missing the last three games of the regular season, but the winger's been back on the top line with Connor McDavid and Ryan Nuhent-Hopkins and recorded two assists in Game 3 to go along with his goal in Game 1.

Hyman feels there's a heightened sensew of team cohesion right now with the Oilers lineup becoming more and more healthy.

"It's not easy when you have a bunch of guys out of the lineup, and there's not much consistency with lineups and players," he said. "When players are healthy, it doesn't happen right away. If you miss a lot of time, you need a game to get caught up to speed over a couple of games, and it's hard to do that in the playoffs where everything is magnified.

"For our group, you have a bunch of guys who are starting to feel really good and starting to feel more like themselves, and I think that only helps our team."

View the Oilers Projected Game 4 Lineup vs. Los Angeles below:

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

Nurse - Bouchard
Walman - Klingberg
Kulak - Emberson

Pickard
Skinner