GAME RECAP: Oilers 3, Senators 2 (OT)

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.

"It was a long time sitting out, so probably a little relief," Walman said of scoring the winner in his return to the lineup. "I'm just happy to be back, and we've got a great team. I thought we played a good game and we were fortunate to win it.

Making his season debut after missing the first six games due to injury, Walman blasted a rolling puck under the crossbar behind netminder Linus Ullmark with one second left on a penalty to Tim Stützle in extra time after the Senators erased a two-goal lead with two goals in 1:36 early in the third period.

"It'll be a bit of an adjustment," he added. "Probably a couple of games until I feel like myself again, but the biggest thing is just mentally getting back out there with the guys. It feels good to finally be back."

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 following the intermission.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner made 19 saves in the victory, securing his 100th career win on a night of many milestones that included forward Adam Henrique celebrating his 1,000th career game in front of family and friends.

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 goal. Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins also contributed 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 before hitting the road again for back-to-back games on the West Coast this weekend against the Vancouver Canucks and Seattle Kraken.

"It's great momentum going back home," Skinner said. "Obviously, we got Montreal, then a big back-to-back on the road again. So the first stretch here I think is a pretty tough schedule, and for us to be able to finish this road trip off with a win just really helps out because it could have been an ugly road trip, but we were able to manage two wins, which is huge."

THE CAPTAIN HAS ARRIVED

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 the 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 No. 97'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 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).

THE ICEMAN'S FIRST NHL GOAL

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 in the show after finishing 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.

Not many will be able to say at the end of their careers that their first NHL goal was set up by both McDavid and Draisaitl – two of the some of best to ever do it – but Howard is now one of those players.

"That's obviously super cool," Howard said. "It's gonna be a moment I'll remember forever, and to have those two guys in on the goal is pretty special. A couple of great plays by them."

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.

"I was coming out of the box, and I think Davo might have disrupted a play or something," Howard recalled. "Leo had the puck, and we had a quick strike two-on-one. I just tried to get open, and he made a nice find."

'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 against the Calgary Flames in 2007.

"It's just nice to see a puck go in," he said. "I thought after that, I had some other good looks. The puck came to me a little bit more effortlessly, so I think I've just got to run with that momentum and keep it going."

SKINNER STRETCHES OUT TO DENY PERRON

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, Yukon 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.

"I feel like this is a really good floor for me – the new floor for me – and I think I just have to continue my game, stay in the same mind frame here and just give the guys a chance to win," Skinner said. "It's hard to win in this league, so being able to get every win that we can at any point that we can is huge. We've been doing a heck of a job altogether as a team just battling, grinding and trying to find ways to win."

Skinner entered play tonight sitting on 99 career wins and became the sixth netminder in franchise history to reach the century mark for wins. With 178 games played, Skinner is 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).

The 26-year-old wasn't even aware of the milestone until after the game, when Head Coach Kris Knoblauch congratulated him.

"I actually had no idea," he said. "Knobber surprised me with that news, and it was pretty cool hearing that. It's a great accomplishment to reach 100 wins. I know there's a lot more to come, and I'm at a great point right now and looking forward to keeping my play up and keeping it going."

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

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.

"It started in the second period, taking the penalty and giving them a power play," Knoblauch said. "They capitalized on the power play, and they made a nice play in the second period and we sat back. After it was 2-2, we responded and played pretty well after that. I thought the last 18 minutes of the game were probably our best, but I didn't like that we were starting the second or third period shorthanded."

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.

WELCOME BACK, JAKE WALMAN!

What better way to mark your season debut than with an overtime WALBOMB to secure 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 rolling puck 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's blast made sure the Oilers wouldn't return home from a long five-game road trip on a losing streak after losing their previous three games to the Islanders, Devils and Red Wings, battling through adversity to secure a much-needed winning result.

"We wanted to get this one before we went back home for one and try to finish off the road trip on a positive note," Walman said. "I thought for most of the game, we played well and battled a little adversity there, and I thought the power play gave us momentum even though we didn't score. But it was a great job battling back in overtime."