Jake Walman secures the victory in overtime while rookie Isaac Howard records his first NHL goal & Connor McDavid picks up his first of the season in a 3-2 victory over the Senators
© 2025 Chris Tanouye/Freestyle Photo
KANATA, ON – Leaving the nation’s capital with a capital ‘W’.
Defenceman Jake Walman scored the game-winner on the power play with 2:36 remaining in overtime on Tuesday night to secure the Edmonton Oilers the extra point in a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators, putting an end to their three-game losing streak in the final match of a lengthy five-game road trip.
Making his season debut after missing the first six games due to injury, Walman blasted a slap shot under the crossbar behind netminder Linus Ullmark after the Senators erased a two-goal lead with two goals in 1:36 early in the third period.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the season with the man advantage in the first period before rookie Isaac Howard notched his first career NHL goal in the middle frame to increase the lead to 2-0 before Dylan Cozens and Thomas Chabot quickly erased the deficit after the intermission.
Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 19 saves, securing his 100th career victory on the night when forward Adam Henrique celebrated his 1,000th career game.
Rookie Matt Savoie earned an assist on Walman’s game-winning tally in overtime along with Mattias Ekholm, while Evan Bouchard picked up his first point of the season with an assist on McDavid’s opening tally. Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also attributed helpers.
The Oilers improve to 3-3-1 on the season as they return home to host the Montreal Canadiens at Rogers Place on Thursday evening before hitting the road again for back-to-back games on the West Coast this weekend against the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken.
Walman’s ends the Oilers’ three-game losing streak in OT
It was only a matter of time.
Oilers captain Connor McDavid got on the board by opening the scoring with his first goal of the season on the power play, putting an end to his longest goalless streak of his career to begin a regular season (six games) after he gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead with 3:29 remaining in the first period.
McDavid had been anything but unproductive over his first six games this season with seven assists despite being unable to find the back of the net, and Sunday’s 4-2 defeat to the Red Wings marked the end of his impressive 22-game point streak in the regular season dating back to 2024-25.
After Evan Bouchard reversed the puck along the halfboards to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins less than a minute into their first man advantage, No. 93 went behind the net with the puck before putting it onto McDavid’s tape inside the left circle for a quick one-timer into the top corner past netminder Linus Ullmark.
The tally was McDavid’s 25th point (nine goals) in 13 career visits to Canadian Tire Centre and his 88th career power-play goal, putting him one back of Mark Messier (89) for the sixth most in Oilers franchise history.
Bouchard’s secondary assist was his first point of the season, while another helper for Nugent-Hopkins gives him six points (3G, 3A) over his last six meetings with the Senators as he continues to enjoy a productive start ot the campaign through seven games (4G, 3A).
McDavid goes top shelf on the PP for his first goal of the season
Speaking of arrivals: how about Isaac Howard’s first career NHL goal?
Last season’s Hobey Baker Award winner as the NCAA’s top player with the Michigan State Spartans finally has his first goal in the show after the 21-year-old finished off Leon Draisaitl’s feed that came as a result of some terrific back pressure from Connor McDavid in the Ottawa zone, giving the Oilers a 2-0 advantage just 49 seconds into the second period.
McDavid didn’t get an assist for his terrific backcheck on Ridley Greig, tracking down the centre and separating him from the puck, but the captain’s effort allowed Draisaitl to jump up and create a three-on-two for the Oilers inside the offensive zone after Howard exited the penalty box from a holding penalty late in the opening frame and found his way into the slot unmarked.
Howard dispatched a quick one-timer five-hole on Ullmark before his delayed reaction to scoring his first NHL goal saw him drop to one knee in celebration, releasing a big fist pump and being congratulated by Draisaitl in the corner as McDavid went to pull the puck out of the back of Ottawa’s net.
‘The Iceman’ became the 421st player in franchise history to record a goal for the team and the 56th youngest player in franchise history to register their first NHL goal at 21 years and 205 days old – the youngest being Sam Gagner at 18 years and 71 days old.
Howard’s first NHL goal gives the Oilers a 2-0 lead in Ottawa
Another sensational denial from Stuart Skinner while alone in his crease against two Senators under six minutes into the second period was critical to preserving the Oilers’ lead – but only until the early moments of the final frame after the hosts came back out of the intermission with purpose.
The pride of Whitehorse, YK in Dylan Cozens kept the puck in at the blueline and fired it towards goal before it was knocked down in front by some nice hand-eye coordination from David Perron, creating a quick two-on-one in front of Skinner with Ridley Greig where the former Oilers forward got the puck back on the right side for a wide-open scoring opportunity.
Skinner had other plans, lunging across to get his glove to Perron’s amazing opportunity and make an incredible stop before making another stop on the rebound and clearing the puck from danger to preserve the Oilers’ 2-0 lead in sensational fashion.
Skinner entered play tonight sitting on 99 career wins, looking to become the sixth netminder in franchise history to reach the century mark for wins. With 178 games played, Skinner will become the third fastest goaltender to reach the mark in team history, trailing only Andy Moog (163 GP) and Grant Fuhr (174 GP) and ahead of Cam Talbot (212 GP), Tommy Salo (221 GP) and Bill Ranford (231 GP).
Skinner makes a lunging save on Perron to keep it 2-0
Don’t get caught sleeping on those Senators.
Before the third period was even two minutes old, the Senators stayed their own execution with two goals in 1:36 to make it 2-2 in the nation’s capital – starting with Cozen’s fourth goal of the campaign just 13 seconds into the final frame.
With the Oilers starting the third period on the penalty kill with Darnell Nurse in the box for tripping Tim Stützle late in the middle stanza, Drake Batherson won a battle inside Edmonton’s blueline and poked the puck to Cozens on the inside, where he was able to walk in and fire it far side past Skinner to get the Senators on the board.
On Ottawa’s next possession, defenseman Thomas Chabot fired an effort through traffic from the top of the zone and between the circles that went through countless bodies on its way past the Oilers’ netminder to tie the game at 18:11 of the third period.
Head Coach Kris Knoblauch called his timeout to settle his group down and give the coaching staff extra time to consider potential goaltender interference. However, they decided against a review before play resumed, with the game tied at two and plenty of time remaining in the third period.
Ullmark robbed Bouchard on a one-timer before the period’s midway mark, before winger Matt Savoie had two golden chances at his first career NHL goal later in the period, losing the handle on the puck beside Ottawa’s net with a wide-open net before failing to bang in a rebound on the same shift.
The Oilers outshot the Senators 9-3 in the third period, but we were bound for overtime in the nation’s capital.
What better way to mark your season debut than with an overtime WALBOMB that secured the Oilers the extra point?
Playing his first game of the season after missing the first six contests with an injury, defenceman Jake Walman stepped into a slap shot on the man advantage in overtime with the second-unit power play to put an end to Edmonton’s three-game losing streak in the last game of a long road trip.
Quickly off an offensive-zone draw won by Matt Savoie after Andrew Mangiapane was kicked out of the circle, Mattias Ekholm tapped it into the path of Walman with mere seconds remaining in Stützle’s penalty for hooking Bouchard while playing three-on-three, setting up Walman for a massive slap shot that he tucked under the crossbar behind Ullmark to win the extra point for the Oilers with 2:36 left in overtime.
Walman wires home the winner in overtime against Ottawa
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