Edmonton Oilers praise Rodrigue in NHL debut despite blowout loss
The Edmonton Oilers were not on the right side of the scoreboard in a 6-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken last night, but there was at least one positive takeaway.
After allowing five goals on 29 shots through the first 40 minutes, Calvin Pickard was pulled from the Edmonton net to start the final frame. With Stuart Skinner out with an injury, longtime AHL goaltender Olivier Rodrigue finally got his first taste of NHL hockey.
It may not have been the debut he imagined, but he looked good, stopping seven of the eight shots that he faced.
“Ollie did a really good job, made some really big saves,” Knoblauch told reporters. “He responded well, lot of big saves, and we’re happy for him to have that period that he did.”
"Ollie did a really good job, made some really big saves… We waited until the third & unfortunately we were shorthanded & that's not an ideal time to put a goalie in."
Coach Knoblauch on Olivier Rodrigue making his @NHL debut.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/IHlOPiNrAy
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 28, 2025
The 24-year-old did not have an easy go in the third period. His first test was a tricky shot off of Jared McCann that he fielded perfectly. The only blemish on his game was a fluky goal that was batted out of the air by McCann, hardly something that Rodrigue could be expected to stop.
Zach Hyman got the only Oilers goal of the night and wasn’t happy with the team’s overall performance, but he did send some praise toward the rookie goaltender.
“I thought he was amazing. I thought he made a bunch of phenomenal saves,” Hyman said. “Saved all the ones he could save, and some were really hard ones.”
"We just stopped working, made too many mistakes. They capitalized on a bunch of them."
Zach Hyman on the turning point for the #Oilers in the second period vs. Seattle.@Enterprise | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/7hd5G19G4Y
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 28, 2025
Rodrigue’s time with the Oilers is limited, as the team will almost certainly send him back to the AHL once Skinner is healthy enough to return to action. Though he may not be quite ready to be a full-time NHLer on this team, he remains Edmonton’s best shot outside of the current tandem.
As far as goalie debuts go, Rodrigue’s was as good as you could have asked for, given the situation.