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Olivier Rodrigue’s first NHL start, Oilers power play problems, and Vasily Podkolzin’s leg almost fell off

7 1
11.04.2025
After a tough loss in L.A. on Saturday afternoon, the injury-riddled Edmonton Oilers were back to work against the lowly Anaheim Ducks for the fourth and final game of their road trip. And while Edmonton certainly played well enough to win, they couldn’t beat Lukas Dostal more than twice despite firing 48 shots on net. The Oilers get goalie’d again en route to a 3-2 loss.

SHOUT OUT TO OLIVIER RODRIGUE

I’d be lying if I pretended to have Olivier Rodrigue getting starts on my Bingo card for the 2024-25 season, but that was the case Monday night in Anaheim as the second-round pick from 2018 made his first NHL start. With Stuart Skinner still sidelined — he is practicing, though – Rodrigue got the call against a Ducks team that beat the Oilers by a 6-2 score only a few weeks ago. This would be our first glimpse at what the kid could do after waiting for years to see if he could make the leap to the NHL. The 24-year-old goaltender got his first taste of NHL action against Seattle in relief of Calvin Pickard 12 days ago, but this was the first time he was tasked with bringing home the win.

And while he’ll have to wait for that first NHL win, I find it hard to fault Rodrigue on any of the three goals he allowed. There were breakdowns, poor puck management, and breakaways that led to his allowing three more so than any mistakes made by the goaltender. I mean, of course, you would have liked to see him pull a rabbit out of his hat on any of those plays, but I’d also be more inclined to blame the veterans for making mistakes in front of the rookie. But to his credit, Rodrigue made all of the saves you would expect your goaltender to make, and it’s a shame that the .857 save percentage on 21 shots will........

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