“I’ve always wanted to play meaningful games at this time (of year). At some point in my career I knew this would come.” — Jake Walman, before his first game as an Edmonton Oiler.
EDMONTON — At age 29, Jake Walman is in his fifth National Hockey League season. He has played in one NHL playoff game, and that came in a galaxy far, far away, three teams ago with the St. Louis Blues.
The trade deadline transported Walman from the vacant pews of the SAP Center in San Jose to Edmonton, where 18,347 worshippers gather on a Saturday night to watch the only game in town. It can become the only game in the country, if your team plays long enough into the spring.
“A little bit of a different vibe. Just really exciting for me,” Walman said after his Oilers debut, a hair-raising 5-4 Edmonton win in which he was a tidy plus-3 in the first period alone.
“I had a bunch of family and friends watching (back home in Toronto). Growing up I always watched Hockey Night in Canada, and being at this stage is probably the pinnacle of any sport. I’m just really excited to be a part of it.”
Walman came as advertised, floating a long, breakaway pass to Zach Hyman in the first period for a goal, then stepping into Mikko Rantanen with a textbook open-ice hit in Period 2. By the third period he was on the ice with Stars goalie Jake Oettinger pulled and the Oilers clinging to a one-goal lead, all in all a mighty good debut for a kid who grew up in Toronto’s Jewish community alongside Hyman and played one season with (and several against) Connor McDavid on their way up through the Greater Toronto Hockey League.
“I knew me and Himes had some sort of connection. Can’t put a finger on it, but I know we’ve got some sort of connection,” he joked post-game, his first game in ages played at this level of competitiveness. “That’s probably the biggest thing I noticed, the compete level. These guys are always on here. It’s like a different level, and I’m just really excited to play at that level.
“Meaningful games,” he marvelled. “I think that was kind of almost like a pre-playoff game.”
Indeed it was, as last year’s Western Conference Final opponent came calling at the precise moment the Oilers have found some traction, after two months of spinning their wheels to varying degrees.
This was, for 40 minutes at least, the closest the Oilers have looked to the team they aspire to be six weeks from now when the post-season begins. Even in the third period, when Dallas earned a few breaks, it wasn’t because the Oilers folded. Rather, it forced Edmonton to defend a one-goal lead for the final 10 minutes, a task they handled just fine.
“They had two power-play goals and had one bounce off (Ty Emberson’s) shin pad and in. We had some tough bounces,:” said Hyman after a two-goal night. “I thought Stu (Skinner) played phenomenal. We just grinded one out.”
From an Oilers perspective, this game had all the ingredients of the recipe they hope will carry them late into June:
Connor McDavid was Connor McDavid again, wheeling through the Stars for his first even-strength goal in 13 games, and laying down a defensively sound game while striking the fear of God into the Stars every time he fired up his jets.
Skinner was, for the second straight game, a guy you can win with — and better than the goalie at the other end. His 22–save performance was far more difficult than it sounds, and reminiscent of that 2-1 series-clincher last June when the Oilers beat Dallas in Game 6 despite being outshot 34-10.
Even the little things were there for Edmonton, like a one-timer off the left side for Viktor Arvidsson that used to be a calling card but has gone AWOL this season. Or, finally, a goal for Connor Brown — just his second goal in 32 games.
Heck, Edmonton was even the more physical team, a sentence we haven’t typed many times this season.
Max Jones ran around some, and the sight of a guy in a blue and orange jersey finishing checks and then standing ready for whatever came next was a sight for sore eyes in these parts. Jones smoked Rantanen as well, a few minutes before Walman laid the big Finn out.
As a guy who watches Edmonton play a lot, we would say it’s about time someone else’s star players were the ones taking the abuse.
“Jones, two games in, has really provided an element that we’ve been missing,” said head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Tonight he played about eight minutes and had five hits, very similar to the night before (against Montreal). Adding a little bit of speed and physicality, which is good for our team.”
Wait until Trent Frederic gets healthy. He’s likely the most physical player of the three trade-deadline additions, all of whom have an edge that that was missing from an older team that needs to get pulled into the fight somewhat.
This, folks, was a good sign.
Fast, connected, physical and with finish.
Those four elements could take this team where it wants to go.
