How's that for an introduction to Oil Country?

Jake Walman didn't disappoint in his Edmonton Oilers debut on Saturday night, and his new team didn't disappoint him. Walman, Connor McDavid, and Zach Hyman led the Oilers to a dominant 5-1 lead over the Dallas Stars after two periods. The Stars mounted comeback attempt in the final frame, but fell short as the Oilers wrapped up a huge 5-4 win over their western rivals.

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Key Player Grades

Jake Walman: A

The dynamic defenseman was as advertised in his first game in blue and orange, showing off with a gorgeous stretch pass to spring Zach Hyman for a breakaway goal to put the Oilers up 2-1 in the first period.

Walman got involved on the other side of the puck, too, laying out Mikko Rantanen with a huge open-ice hit in the dying seconds of the middle frame, to massive cheers from the Oilers crowd.

He wasn't the only Oiler to take a run at the newest Star, either: Max Jones drew the ire of the Dallas bench with a huge hit on Rantanen earlier in the second period. The new guys are fitting in just fine.

Zach Hyman: A

Hyman was back to his old tricks on Saturday night, picking up two goals for his first multi-goal game since January 23rd against Vancouver. Hyman's now up to 22 goals on the season, beating his Maple Leafs high (21) in all four of his seasons in Edmonton.

He did it with his usual versatility, cleaning up a missed chance from McDavid to tie the game at one before knocking down Walman's pass and beating Jake Oettinger on the breakaway to put the Oilers up 2-1 early.

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Connor McDavid: A+

What else can you say at this point? McDavid picked up a goal and an assist on Saturday night, and he could've had a lot more. After being in a bit of a funk since the 4 Nations Face-Off, the Oilers' captain rebounded with his best game in weeks.

McDavid's second period goal was a thing of beauty, the kind only he can come up with. Poor Ilya Lyubishkin's jockstrap is still somewhere up in the rafters of Rogers Place.

Though Walman, Hyman, and McDavid were the Oilers' standouts, they were far from their only key players on Saturday. Connor Brown scored the eventual game winner, his first in nine games, while Stuart Skinner robbed Rantanen of his first goal as a Star with one of the best saves of his career early in the third period.

It wasn't perfect, and it was definitely more stressful than it should have been, but Saturday night's win was a huge one for the Oilers. With the big moves made by Dallas and Colorado at the trade deadline, Edmonton appeared to have fallen down a rung or two in the Western Conference. Beating Dallas dispels that notion immediately.

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