Ecstatic Walker bags goal in NHL debut

NATHAN Walker has enjoyed a dream NHL debut, scoring in the first match played by an Australian in the league.

Walker, raised in Sydney, became his country’s first NHL player when he turned out for Washington against Montreal on Saturday at the Capital One Arena. And the occasion only got better for the 23-year-old left wing who deflected in a shot from Capitals teammate Devante Smith-Pelly in the 19th minute of the home side’s 6-1 triumph over the Canadiens.

There was more than an element of luck to the secondperiod goal — it was even originally awarded to Smith-Pelly — but he quickly made clear it had come off Walker.

In a touching gesture Smith-Pelly asked for the puck as a keepsake for his teammate, and when the scoring change was eventually announced, Walker’s mother, Ceri, stood and wildly waved an Australian flag.

Another Capital, Alex Ovechkin — who had his own reasons to celebrate with a four-goal performance that saw him become the first player in 100 years to score backto-back hat-tricks to open a season — skated over to the bench to give Walker a few taps on the helmet.

“At first I wasn’t 100 per cent sure,” Walker said of his goal, adding he felt in something of a daze in his first game.

“The first couple of shifts I didn’t know what happened.” Walker enjoyed more than 11 minutes’ ice time in a solid debut which had been more than a decade in the making.

Playing for the Sydney Ice Dogs in the Australian Ice Hockey League, Walker excelled.

Moving to the Czech Republic in 2007 to further his career, six years later he signed for the Youngstown Phantoms in the United States Hockey League, the NHL’s feeder competition.

An NHL debut has been spoken of ever since, but mixed form, injury and hot competition had got in the way until his appearance on Saturday.