It was a busy night in the Pacific Division on Tuesday, with six of the eight teams in action.
The Edmonton Oilers gained ground on the Vegas Golden Knights with a 3-2 regulation win in the final regular-season meeting between the two teams in 2024-25. Edmonton is now seven points back of Vegas for top spot in the division with eight games left for both teams.
The Los Angeles Kings also cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, maintaining their two-point lead over the Oilers in the standings. The Kings will host the Oilers on Saturday and the two teams will meet again in Edmonton later this month.
Despite the loss to the Oilers, the Golden Knights clinched a playoff spot when the Calgary Flames were dropped 3-1 by the Utah Hockey Club. The Flames are six points back of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with eight games left on their schedule.

Back-to-back wins for goaltender Calvin Pickard

Stuart Skinner is out with an injury and Calvin Pickard is suddenly the team’s starting goaltender. He had a rough outing against the Seattle Kraken last week but has posted back-to-back wins since.
Pickard was rock-solid for Edmonton over the weekend, stopping 26 of 28 shots in their 3-2 overtime victory over the Calgary Flames. He followed that performance up on Tuesday with another strong showing, turning aside 20 of 22 shots in the 3-2 in over Vegas.
“What Picks doesn’t have on the technical side of it, he makes up for it by just reading the play, with his hockey sense,” head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters in Vegas. “For him to read that pass, he knew exactly who’s going to be over there. It’s a one-time shot — it’s not that they were going to make a second play. He had to come out and challenge it.”
The win was Pickard’s first against his former club. The Golden Knights selected Pickard from the Colorado Avalanche in the 2017 Expansion Draft and traded him to the Toronto Maple Leafs before the start of their first season.
The 32-year-old native of Moncton, New Brunswick is now 19-8-1 on the season over 31 appearances with a .899 save percentage. Given the inconsistent play of Skinner this season and his recent injury, might Pickard be Edmonton’s starter when the playoffs begin later this month?

Leon Draisaitl continues Hart Trophy push with 52nd goal

The Oilers scored all three of their goals in the second period. Jake Walman put Edmonton on the board just 19 seconds into the frame, Leon Draisaitl buried his 52nd goal of the season on a five-on-three power play advantage, and Viktor Arvidsson jammed a puck past Adin Hill to extend the lead.
After missing four games with an undisclosed injury, Draisaitl has been on fire since returning to the lineup. He scored a goal and three points in Edmonton’s win over Calgary on Saturday and he added another goal against Vegas on Tuesday. The Oilers scored six goals in their two wins and Draisaitl was involved in four of them.
It’s going to be an interesting vote for the Hart Trophy this year. Nikita Kucherov leads the NHL with 111 points and Nathan MacKinnon is right behind him with 110 points. Draisaitl is third with 105 points but he leads the league with 52 goals, 36 even-strength goals, 16 power-play goals, and 11 game-winning goals. Also in the conversation is goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who leads the league with 43 wins and a .924 save percentage.