Former PC Hockey All-American Walman Helps Oilers Stun Panthers

Former PC Hockey All-American Walman Helps Oilers Stun Panthers

The Edmonton Oilers fell behind 3-0 after one period in Thursday night’s game against the Florida Panthers.  Playing on their home ice in game 4 of the series, it looked certain that the Panthers would take a 3-1 lead in games and be a solid favorite to win their second straight Stanley Cup.

 

The Panthers went into cruise control, however, in the second period and the Oilers tied up the game with 3 goals.  The Oilers got the go-ahead goal from an unlikely source at 13:36 of the third period from defenseman Jake Walman, former PC star from 2014 to 2017.  The Oilers were bringing the play to the Panthers.

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Walman, who has excelled for the Oilers' defense in this series, risked a deep journey into the Panthers' zone and let go a blistering slap shot by the Panthers' goalie Brobrovsky on the short side for the Oilers' 4th score.  It was the first time that the Oilers were ahead against the Panthers in a game since the first period of the second game.

 

While Florida tied up the game with 19 seconds in the third period, the Oilers were still skating with the momentum of Walman’s goal, and eventually scored the winner at 11:18 in OT from star forward Leon Draisaitl.

 

This goal was Walman’s only 2nd goal of the playoffs, but he has proved to be a stellar defensive pickup by the Oilers from the San Jose Sharks in March.  He has played on the third defensive pairing for the Oilers.  He leads all the Oilers players in the playoffs with 16 blocked shots and 13 hits.  And he is second on the team in the playoffs with a +11 rating.

 

The Oilers and Panthers will play game 5 back in Edmonton on Saturday night at 8PM on TNT; or if you are in the Edmonton area, tickets are as low as $800.