Calvin Pickard steps up again, Oilers tie Stanley Cup final with Game 4 OT win

Calvin Pickard had yet to see much action.

The Oilers goaltender entered the fray after Thursday's disastrous first period where his team failed to meet the moment and left Stuart Skinner hung out to dry down 3-0 to the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup final.

Edmonton clawed back within two early in the second period on a power-play goal off the stick of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Pickard was then — almost out of nowhere — forced to make a save off a turnover that will be remembered for a long time if the Oilers end up hoisting their sixth championship.

The former journeyman netminder denied Anton Lundell on that breakaway to keep the score at 3-1 before making a number of huge stops that set the stage for Leon Draisaitl's overtime winner as Edmonton defeated Florida 5-4 to even the best-of-seven title series 2-2.

"Gets you feeling better," Pickard said of that save on Lundell. "After that it was pretty steady. They had some looks, but we had a ton of looks too and our resolve was fantastic."

The 33-year-old has bailed the Oilers out before this spring.

Pickard replaced a shaky Skinner in the first round of the playoffs with Edmonton down 2-0 to the Los Angeles Kings. He won his next six starts — with plenty of goal support from a high-flying roster led by Draisaitl and Connor McDavid — before getting injured in Game 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

"It was frustrating," said Pickard, who finished with 22 stops. "Things were going pretty well, and then [Skinner] hopped in there and played great. I felt for him – he came ready to play [Thursday], made some big saves early. We just didn't have it as a team early.

"If he was playing behind our team in the second and third and overtime, he would've done what I