Former Phantom Walker scores for Capitals in debut

Combined dispatches

Saturday night, former Youngstown Phantom Nathan Walker became the first Australian native to play an NHL game. He celebrated by scoring a goal in the Washington Capitals’ 6-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.

“Couldn’t be happier for Nathan Walker,” said Phantoms head coach Brad Patterson, who was an assistant when Walker was a winger on the team in 2013. “A player to come out of Australia at 14, move [to Europe] and play there for a few years, [then] jump over here.

“He’s gone through the minors and to finally play his first game, he’s rewarded,” Patterson said.

Walker’s grand debut included scoring Washington’s sixth goal late in the second period.

The goal was originally credited to Devante Smith-Pelly, but when the change was announced to the crowd during the third period, his family waved Australian flags in Walker’s honor.

“At first I wasn’t 100 percent sure,” Walker said of his goal. He felt in somewhat of a daze in his first game.

“The first couple of shifts I didn’t know what happened,” he said.

Rangers 2, Canadiens 0

NEW YORK

Brady Skjei and Mika Zibanejad scored, Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots for his 62nd career shutout and the New York Rangers picked up their first win of the season, beating the Montreal Canadiens Sunday night.