Calvin Pickard is excited for Tuesday night for multiple reasons.
The veteran goaltender is scheduled to make his season debut. He also will make his team debut after joining the Minnesota Wild during the offseason.
Finally, he will make the start in the city that is more familiar to him than any other. Pickard will take the net for the Wild when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday night.
“It’s home for me,” said Pickard, who moved to Winnipeg as a child. “I’ve always got family there. I’ve definitely played a lot of games there over the years.”
Pickard, 34, has played in 191 NHL games, including 157 starts, in an 11-year career. He spent the previous three seasons with the Edmonton Oilers after stops with the Colorado Avalanche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Philadelphia Flyers, then-Arizona Coyotes and Detroit Red Wings.
Pickard, signed to provide depth with Filip Gustavsson missing the beginning of the season following hip surgery, has watched from the bench as Jesper Wallstedt has handled the No. 1 goaltending duties. Pickard said he has competed hard during practice and is ready for his first outing of the season.
“My battle level has got to be high for me to have success,” Pickard said. “My technique has definitely taken a lot of steps forward over the years. I want to go out there, do my job, not chase everything and just do my part and let the chips fall where they may.”
Pickard is 4-3-1 with a 3.25 goals-against average and an .889 save percentage in nine career games against the Jets.
For his part, Pickard said he has learned from watching Wallstedt’s hot start to the season.
“It’s been awesome to watch,” Pickard said. “… It’s very impressive for a young guy to have that much confidence, that much swagger. He really lets the game come to him. He’s just a regular dude, too. It has been awesome to see.”
Winnipeg is coming off its first regulation loss of the season. The Jets won their previous three games in a row and racked up seven points in four games before falling short 5-1 against the visiting Anaheim Ducks on Friday.
Kyle Connor leads Winnipeg with eight points (six goals, two assists). Cole Perfetti ranks second with six points (three goals, three assists), and four players are tied for third with three points apiece.
Jets defenseman Dylan DeMelo said an extended break before the Tuesday game helped him and his teammates regroup after a frenzied start to the season.
“It’s nice for sure,” DeMelo said. “We’ve been going pretty hard here, five (games) in eight (days). We started the season kind of late. …
“We were a little late to the party, but we played a lot of good hockey in that five-game stretch. So, a lot of good things to work on, a lot of things to build off.”
Winnipeg’s options in net include Stuart Skinner and Clay Stevenson. Skinner is 2-0-1 with a 2.62 GAA and a .920 save percentage in three starts, and Stevenson is 1-1-0 with a 3.10 GAA and an .872 save percentage in two starts.
Skinner is 2-3-0 with a 2.64 GAA and a .910 save percentage in five career games against the Wild. Stevenson never has faced Minnesota in his brief career.
The Jets are still dealing with an uncertain situation regarding star goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who has asked for a trade. Hellebuyck has been suspended by the team ever since he failed to report to training camp last month.
