EDGE stats behind Pickard’s Stanley Cup Playoff heroics for Oilers

NHL.com's fantasy staff continues to cover the latest trends and storylines in the League through the lens of NHL EDGE puck and player tracker stats. Today, we look at the underlying metrics behind Edmonton Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

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Calvin Pickard stepped into a dire situation for the Edmonton Oilers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, and the goalie’s strong advanced stats helped him remain undefeated this postseason and his team draw even in their championship series rematch against the Florida Panthers.

Pickard, who replaced starter Stuart Skinner to begin the second period with the Oilers trailing 3-0, made 22 saves on 23 shots faced in their 5-4 overtime win against the Panthers. Edmonton evened the best-of-7 series, 2-2, on Leon Draisaitl’s overtime goal, marking the team’s eighth comeback win of the 2025 postseason.

Pickard, who also made a relief appearance in Game 3 of the Cup Final but previously hadn’t played since Game 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights of the Western Conference Second Round on May 8, has been an unsung hero for Edmonton with a 7-0 record in nine games this postseason. Only three goalies in NHL history have had more wins than Pickard without having any losses in a single postseason: Gump Worsley was 11-0 with the Montreal Canadiens in 1968, Jacques Plante was 8-0 with the Canadiens in 1960, and Terry Sawchuk was 8-0 with the Detroit Red Wings in 1952.

Here are three underlying numbers behind Pickard’s postseason heroics:

1. High-danger save percentage

Pickard leads the NHL in high-danger save percentage (.848) this postseason among goalies who advanced past the first round; the League average in high-danger save percentage during the 2025 playoffs is .807.

Pickard has stopped all eight high-danger shots faced over his two relief appearances in the Cup Final and didn't allow a goal at 5-on-5 in Game 4 (15 saves on 15 shots faced).

2. Goal support

Game 4 of the Cup Final wasn’t the first time Pickard has provided Edmonton with a spark this postseason. Skinner started the first two games of the playoffs for the Oilers before they turned to Pickard in Game 3 against the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference First Round. That game began a stretch of six straight come-from-behind wins for the Oilers, all coming with Pickard in net. Pickard has played in seven of Edmonton’s eight comeback wins during the 2025 playoffs.

In addition to his individual success against high-danger shots on goal, goal support has been a huge factor in Pickard’s success; Pickard leads the NHL in goals for average (4.22) and goal differential per 60 minutes (1.53) this postseason, ahead of not only his teammate Skinner but also Panthers workhorse Sergei Bobrovsky in both categories.

3. Timely saves on high-probability shots

Pickard made a number of saves at opportune times for the Oilers in Game 4, most notably his outstanding glove stop on Panthers forward Sam Bennett at 6:48 of overtime to keep the game tied.

NHL EDGE IQ, powered by Amazon Web Services, uses "Projected Goal Rate" (PGR) to estimate the likelihood of a shot attempt becoming a goal. The Actual Goal Rate (AGR) of all shots this season across the League is 5.1 percent. For context, anything at or above a PGR of 12.0 percent is considered a high-probability attempt.

Bennett’s attempt was Florida's only above-average shot attempt in overtime of Game 4. Pickard stopped three of the four high-probability shots on goal he faced in Game 4, with the one goal allowed being Sam Reinhart’s game-tying goal with 20 seconds left in the third period -- the only goal allowed by Pickard in nearly two and a half periods of action.

• 2nd period: Shot by Evan Rodrigues saved (PGR: 12.79 percent)
• 3rd period: Shot by Aleksander Barkov saved (PGR: 15.66 percent)
• 3rd period: Sam Reinhart scored goal (PGR: 21.40 percent)
• Overtime: Shot by Sam Bennett saved (PGR: 13.38 percent)

In terms of offensive zone time percentage, the Panthers had a clear advantage (47.6) compared to the Oilers (38.0) in Game 4, making Pickard’s performance even more impressive.

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More EDGE stats on Pickard