Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in EnglishThe gap is too large and it’s almost certainly too late in the season for the result to change the Edmonton Oilers’ chances of catching the Vegas Golden Knights.That doesn’t mean Tuesday’s win isn’t without importance.The Oilers beat the Golden Knights 3-2 in Vegas on the strength of an excellent final 40 minutes. They halted a six-game winning streak for the Golden Knights and handed them just their third regulation loss this season when leading after the first.They got the job done without Connor McDavid, Mattias Ekholm and Stuart Skinner — and that’s to say nothing of gritty wingers Trent Frederic and Evander Kane, who’ve yet to play for the Oilers this season. (Of course, the Golden Knights were missing stars Alex Pietrangelo and Tomas Hertl, too.)The Oilers are now seven points behind the Golden Knights in the Pacific Division standings with eight games remaining for each team. That’s still a big separation. Plus, thanks to the Los Angeles Kings’ win over Winnipeg, the Oilers are still two points out of second place.But the way the Oilers played in Vegas should at least have the Golden Knights’ attention ahead of a possible second-round series.Here are three things that stood out.Is Pickard priming for more playoff action?There were a lot of premium performances up and down the lineup, but goaltender Calvin Pickard was near the top of the list. What a place for a sterling effort, too.Fresh off becoming Colorado’s starter and going toe-to-toe with Henrik Lundqvist in the World Championship final, Pickard was slated to back up Marc-Andre Fleury after being picked by Vegas in the 2017 expansion draft. But the Golden Knights shocked Pickard by waiving him as their inaugural season began. They went with Malcolm Subban as Fleury’s understudy instead.That decision sent Pickard’s career into a spiral. He became a journeyman, mostly in the minors, until he got his big break to replace Jack Campbell with the Oilers in November 2023.“That’s kind of what started it. They didn’t really believe in me at the time,” he said last season. “I just couldn’t catch on anywhere, really.”Tuesday was his first game against the Golden Knights. Playing a key role in a win was the perfect outcome.Pickard made 20 saves, his best when he came out of the crease to challenge Pavel Dorofeyev with the Golden Knights’ goalie pulled.“What maybe Picks doesn’t have with the technical side, he makes up for it with just reading the play, his hockey sense,” coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters in Las Vegas.
Calvin Pickard makes a save against Pavel Dorofeyev late in the third period. (Stephen R. Sylvanie / Imagn Images)An uncontested Nicolas Roy slot shot in the first and a Dorofeyev long-range wrister through traffic were the only pucks to get by him.He got some help, namely when Dorofeyev missed an open net late in the third, but Pickard was full marks for earning his 19th win of the season.“Picks played unbelievable back there,” said defenceman Jake Walman, a former teammate of Pickard’s in Detroit after the brief Vegas cameo. “He helped us out when we broke down a little bit.”This was Pickard’s third consecutive start with Skinner out of the lineup after being inadvertently kneed in the head by Dallas winger Mikko Rantanen last Wednesday. Skinner is expected back before the regular season, but his status is uncertain beyond that projection.Pickard wasn’t very good in the first of those starts, a 6-1 loss in Seattle the night after Skinner went down. He’s been superb since, allowing two goals in each of the next two wins.Per Hockey Reference, Pickard now has 18 quality starts out of his 26 chances, good for a 69.2 percent rate. That’s well ahead of Skinner’s 45.8 percent over 48 starts. It must be noted that those numbers are skewed. Pickard has just four wins over teams currently in a playoff position.One of those victories came on Tuesday, though. The timing couldn’t have been better. Pickard is at the very least showing he can be trusted to get postseason action like he got in the second round against Vancouver last year.Nurse gets some revengeRemember how poorly Darnell Nurse faired with then-partner Cody Ceci during that second-round series with Vegas two years ago?The Oilers were outscored 7-2 at five-on-five with Nurse on the ice and 8-1 when Ceci was skating. They were a major reason why Edmonton bowed out of the 2023 playoffs earlier than expected.Save for a few missteps, Nurse has returned to his 2022-and-earlier form this season. He’s arguably been the Oilers’ best defenceman. That might have been the case Tuesday, too, even though Walman, who netted his first goal with the Oilers, and Evan Bouchard, who notched two assists, were right there with him.Nurse led all Oilers skaters with 23:51 of ice time. He had a shot on net on eight attempts, two hits and three blocked shots — none bigger than the one on Ivan Barbashev in front of the Edmonton net with 23 seconds remaining.Nurse anchored the second duo with typically bottom-pairing blueliner Troy Stecher in Ekholm’s absence. He got more than four minutes at five-on-five with Brett Kulak as well.The Oilers might not have won this game without Nurse. This was exactly what they’re going to need from him in the playoffs, especially if they play Vegas again.Podkolzin shows his valueThere were a lot of notable plays from forwards.Kasperi Kapanen saved a goal with some hustle and made a slick backhanded pass to Viktor Arvidsson on what turned out to be the game winner. Arvidsson’s determination and extra effort to finish the play is also worth mentioning, as is Adam Henrique’s forecheck to force a turnover and get things started.The pass Ryan Nugent-Hopkins made on Leon Draisaitl’s power-play goal was sublime.But if you’re looking for truly understated, look no further than the work of Vasily Podkolzin.Podkolzin set up Walman’s marker 19 seconds into the second period to tie the score. He played 17:14, was in the mix all game and recorded four hits. Those bodychecks pushed to 189 on the season, tying him with Pat Maroon (2016-17) for ninth among Oilers forwards in a single campaign.It would be nice if Podkolzin provided more offence. Though he’s not on the power play, Podkolzin has seven goals and 23 points in 74 games with Draisaitl as his most common centreman. But there are reasons Draisaitl likes playing with him. One of them is Podkolzin’s willingness to get the puck for him. Hitting helps accomplish that.Until Frederic and Kane enter the fray and start making their presence felt, Podkolzin is the guy who provides the more muscle out front. That matters in the playoffs, just as it did on Tuesday.(Top photo of Darnell Nurse and Calvin Pickard: Stephen R. Sylvanie / Imagn Images)
