For the second year in a row, the Philadelphia Flyers will have two of their former goalies representing them in the Stanley Cup Final, with one making a surprisingly large contribution in the NHL playoffs relative to his role with the team.
This year’s Stanley Cup Final matchup is, of course, a rematch of last year’s final, which featured the Edmonton Oilers and the Florida Panthers.
Former Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, whose career post-Philadelphia has been discussed and reflected on ad nauseam, will appear in his third consecutive Stanley Cup Final, starting to quietly cement himself as one of the best goalies in the NHL playoffs of his era.
With four wins and a back-to-back championship, Bobrovsky will move into 15th all-time in wins in the NHL playoffs amongst goalies.
But, today, we’re talking about a different kind of impressive feat from one of the journeymen goalies playing across from him. That’s none other than former Flyers goalie Calvin Pickard, who’s certainly played his part in bringing the Oilers back to the Final for the second year in a row.
Pickard, 33, didn’t start the playoffs as the Oilers’ starting goalie, and after some tidy work, he’s not going to end them as that either. And that’s okay.
Pickard and his goalie partner, Stuart Skinner, combined to allow no fewer than six goals in each of the first two games in Round 1 against the Los Angeles Kings, but Pickard then took over and ripped off four straight wins for the Oilers, playing at a borderline dominant level in two of them.
Pickard’s win streak extended into Round 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights, starting that series with two decisive victories in as many games. An injury to Pickard forced Skinner back into the crease, who, after a tight 4-3 loss in his first game, posted back-to-back shutouts to send the Golden Knights packing.
It’s been Skinner’s crease ever since, but we can’t so quickly ignore Pickard’s flawless 6-0 record this postseason at a time when the Oilers needed him the most.
And should the Flyers be missing Pickard, who was 4-2-2 with a .863 save percentage and one shutout in his brief 11-game stint in Philadelphia back in 2018?
At this point, yes, probably.
Pickard has gone 34-17-2 over the last two seasons for the Oilers, posting a save percentage no lower than .900 in either season and going 7-1-0 in his 10 postseason appearances.
No Flyers goalie finished with a save percentage above .890 this season, and last season, Sam Ersson finished with a .890 exactly in 51 games with no capable backup goalies behind him.
Pickard, even with his unimpressive Flyers stint, has a career save percentage of .903 in 175 games at the NHL level. It’s not great, but it’s a lot better than what is in Philadelphia right now.
If nothing else, Pickard would have been a solid backup or rotational piece, at least in the current context of the Flyers, but his career has now advanced and playoff success has followed in lockstep.
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