EDMONTON - It may have been the biggest game in the four-and-a-half season “modern era” of the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Not necessarily the most popular game or the best attended, mind you. There have been four playoff games, and the Oil Kings do well for those teddy bear toss promotions.

This was big in that it was meaningful, the proverbial mid-season litmus test, with the Oil Kings sitting first in the Eastern Conference of the Western Hockey League, riding a 7-2-0-1 streak in their last 10 games, the Tri-City Americans a close second in the Western Conference.

The Americans, ranked No. 1 in the Canadian Hockey League a couple of weeks ago, came into the game ranked the third best team in the country, the Oil Kings were sitting sixth in the national rankings.

It figured to be a playoff-style matchup and the game lived up to its billing, with the Americans eking out a 5-4 overtime victory.

The point actually helps the Oil Kings in the standings and the game provided an important benchmark for them.

“There was a lot of buildup and it was two of the top teams going at it,” said Oil Kings defenceman Mark Pysyk, the face of the young franchise since he first played for them in 2007-08.

“That was a first for us, for sure, first year we’ve been in the Top 10 and playing a team like that. It was a real exciting game to be a part of.”

In the estimation of some press box regulars, it was the best Oil Kings game of the season. If the club keeps improving and is able to fashion a deep playoff run, this game will have been a preview of coming attractions, certainly not a high-water mark for the season.

For Pysyk, the club’s first bantam-age draft pick, its first first-round NHL draft pick (23rd overall by Buffalo in 2010) and the first Oil King to make the national junior team, a mid-season game of this magnitude has been a long time coming.

“It feels like I’ve definitely paid my dues with losing teams in the past,” Pysyk said. “There has been a lot of long years where there haven’t been (many) wins.

“It’s fun to come to the rink right now. Everybody’s enjoying what we’re doing right now, we’re having fun every single day.”

It’s a season where so many factors have lined up for the Oil Kings to help them emerge from the margins and become “relevant,” as their senior leadership would tell you.

The Oilers, as everyone knows, are struggling; the Oil Kings are a first-place club. Oil Kings season ticket sales are up this year, owing in part to their being packaged with tickets to the world junior hockey championship

The world junior also helped raise the profile of some Oil Kings signature players, like defencemen Pysyk and Martin Gernat, as well as forward Kristians Pelss.

Griffin Reinhart, the club’s unflappable, smooth, six-foot-four, 202-pound anchor on defence, was rated eighth on the most recent ranking of North American skaters by the NHL’s central scouting bureau.

He scored a pair of goals on Wednesday night, and Gernat, an Oilers draft pick, scored another.

The club has identifiable stars now. Fans can pretty much plan to enjoy the Oil Kings in the WHL playoffs, probably with home-ice advantage, in the bargain.

A mid-week game may not be the ultimate gauge of the club’s emerging place in the public imagination. Wednesday night is a tough sell for the young demographic that makes up the club’s fan base.

So, having 5,400 tickets sold and an estimated 4,100 at Rexall Place, where an average crowd is about 3,500 was impressive.

The fans got their money’s worth on Wednesday night, without a doubt. A deep playoff run, such as the fledgling Calgary Hitmen fashioned back in the late 1990s, could provide major momentum for the young WHL franchise.

“We’re a very young hockey club, but this is a great experience for us,” said Oil Kings head coach Derek Laxdall. “It’s a good gauge to see where we are.

“Tri-City went to the final two years ago and (Brendan) Shinnimin and (Adam) Hughesman have been there. So it’s a good chance for our guys to experience a playoff atmosphere against a team like that.”

Something else. The Oil Kings will lose Pysyk, their captain, at season’s end. He’ll move up into the Buffalo Sabres system. A trio of 20-year-olds, Rhett Rachinski, Jordan Peddle and Tyler Maxwell will move on, as well.

But, barring trades or injuries, the talented, young core of the club will all be back in 2012-13.

It is starting to be cool to go to Oil Kings games now. With the show they put on Wednesday night, it’s not hard to see why.

jmackinnon@edmontonjournal.com

Twitter.com/rjmackinnon

Check out my blog, Sweatsox,as edmontonjournal.com/blogs