Jake Walman had a night to forget in Vancouver, and the Edmonton Oilers defenseman got called out for it while the rest of his team was rolling.
"Lots of good things happening in this game for Edmonton," Mark Spector posted Thursday night. "Jake Walman is not one of those."
The numbers back him up. At last look, the defenseman had just 8:41 of ice time and a -2 rating.
He also picked up two penalty minutes and managed one shot on goal.
That's a rough look for a guy carrying a $7,000,000 cap hit. When your team is scoring at will, you have to work pretty hard to finish on the wrong side of it.
It's being the only person at the office party who gets sick from the buffet everyone else loved.
Is it one bad night or the start of a trend? He finished even with no points in the opener, so the jury is still out.
-
-
Mark Spector rips Jake Walman as Oilers run wild against Canucks
Everyone else had a much better evening, with Edmonton up 8-3 on the Canucks at last check.
Connor McDavid had a goal and three assists, and Leon Draisaitl chipped in a goal and an assist.
Evan Bouchard added a goal and two assists, giving him eight points through two games.
Eight different Oilers had scored at last check, which makes Walman's line stand out even more.
Devon Levi got the net tonight, with Tristan Jarry dressed as the backup after his .739 opener.
Shakir Mukhamadullin was the only other Edmonton defenseman on the wrong side of the ledger, also at -2.
On the other side, Kevin Lankinen allowed eight goals on 20 shots before Leevi Merilainen came on in relief for Manny Malhotra's Canucks.
The Oilers are doing all of this without Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jason Dickinson.
Seattle visits Edmonton on Saturday.
Mike Babcock had answers all over his lineup on this night, except one. How long he keeps handing Walman shifts like these is the next decision worth watching.
Should Mike Babcock scratch Jake Walman after this performance?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Brady Tkachuk cheap-shots Macklin Celebrini then gets rocked by Jacob Trouba
