Edmonton Oilers make major changes after horrible start to the NHL season
The Edmonton Oilers finally got their first win of the season after a poor start, and now they've shaken up the lineup ahead of their first road game of the year.
After reaching the Stanley Cup Finals a year ago, many expected the Edmonton Oilers to hit the ground running in 2024/25, but that hasn't exactly happened, as the team lost their first three games before finally taking down the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime. Now, ahead of their first road game of the season against the Nashville Predators, Head Coach Kris Knoblauch is shaking up the lineup.
Not only will this be the second straight game that Leon Draisaitl plays alongside Connor McDavid, but this will also be a game with Calvin Pickard in net, with the team giving Stuart Skinner a much needed rest. Through three games this year, Skinner has posted a 5.40 GAA and an .845 save percentage, but after going through similar struggles a year ago, the team very much expect him to bounce back.
As for Pickard, he has appeared in two games this season, posting a 4.17 GAA and a .718 save percentage of his own in that time, and with the Oilers having one of the weaker bottom two pairings on defense in the NHL, it's clearly effecting their goaltending. Fortunately for Edmonton, they play the winless Nashville Predators, but against one of the most loaded forward groups in the NHL, they'll need their goaltending to stand up.
Early in the year, the NHL would have expected this to be a high-profile matchup, and while both teams are struggling, there are superstars all over, so expect this to be a very fun matchup between two teams that are desperate to build momentum after very poor starts.
