What the Edmonton Oilers 2025–26 season opener has shown us

Well that was a very Edmonton Oilers-esque way to start the season, huh?

The vibes were so immaculate to start the game. The new look power play overseen by Paul MacFarland scored on it’s very first opportunity. The Oilers had a goal from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, scored later off a sweet pass by David Tomasek to Leon Draisaitl for his 400th career NHL goal, and Andrew Mangiapane absolutely rifled one past Dustin Wolf and his old team.

The Oilers let a 3–0 lead get away

If you’re a somewhat devoted fan of the Oilers, though, you know this team LOVES to choke games like this away. Matvei Gridin scoring his first NHL goal was just expected to happen. We’re the team that everyone scores their first goals on. Gridin, however, gets lucky as the puck goes off of a skate and in. Unlucky, but there should be more blame on Darnell Nurse, who tried to dangle past a Calgary defender to gain entry into the zone, lost the puck and boom, it’s in the back of the net.

The second Calgary goal was on the power play by Connor Zary. I still cannot see any angle or feed that the refs must have seen to call this a good goal. Clearly, it was high sticking, but it stands. Stuart Skinner did have a hard time tracking that puck, and it’s probably one he’d like to have back…until the third and game-tying goal occurs.

The puck rolls down the ice, and Evan Bouchard leaves the puck for Skinner to either cover or knock it into the corner. Skinner hesitates, all while he can clearly see a charging Blake Coleman enter the zone, doesn’t cover or shoot it to Bouchard, and Coleman knocks it home. If you blame Bouchard for that goal, I have no idea what else to tell you.

Goaltending is still a major issue

On the other end, young Dustin Wolf was having himself a night. Wolf made multiple big saves on two Oilers power plays, including one in overtime, to let Calgary even have a chance to win this game. Wolf was huge in the shootout as well, stopping seven out of eight attempts from the Oilers. The one goal from Draisaitl, he had no chance on, and was beaten by Kasperi Kapanen but it hit post.

Skinner…. well. He was beat on four opportunities, two of which included a post from Yegor Sharangovich and Matt Coronato. He also looked super shaky on Rasmus Andersson’s attempt. He probably should have had Morgan Frost’s goal. At the end of the day, the Oilers had 63.32% of the xG 5v5 per natural stat trick and Wolf had a +0.17 GSAx compared to Stu’s -0.64. A great night for Wolf.

Are the Oilers still missing depth?

Some other quick notes. Frederic did not look that great next to Draisaitl or Connor McDavid. It seemed he tried to be way too fancy out there, when instead he should be playing to his strengths and go deep into the corners to pick up loose pucks for the big two. With Roslovic now signed, the Oilers have a bunch of options to mix and match the forward group. Please let this be the end of McDrai together.

Isaac Howard-Adam Henrique-David Tomasek were superb. Howard had a few good looks and that line conceded a whopping zero xGA. Keep that line together. Matthew Savoie himself also had a few good looks. He’s such a smart defensive forward and I think he did a great job on the penalty kill. Another name that impressed was Alec Regula. Regula was calm when he had the puck and skates so well for his size.

If this game taught me anything, it’s the fact that this regular season is going to be so much more fun than last year. The Oilers looked so much younger and faster. I cannot wait for guys like Jake Walman and Zach Hyman to return from injury and for Roslovic to make his debut.