The Edmonton Oilers didn’t exactly tidy things up in Vancouver on Thursday night, but they did leave with two points and a wild 9-7 win over the Canucks in their second game of the 2026-27 season.
This one turned into a track meet almost immediately, and Edmonton built a cushion early. Vasily Podkolzin opened the scoring midway through the first period with his third goal of the season on the power play. Five minutes later, Owen Michaels buried his first NHL goal after Mathieu Joseph fed him a behind-the-net pass for Joseph’s first point as an Oiler and his 100th career assist.
The Oilers kept pouring it on. Just 16 seconds later, Evan Bouchard’s shot from the point bounced its way through for his fourth goal of the season. Before the first period was over, Ryan Shea added his first goal as an Oiler.
Edmonton kept the pressure on to start the second. Leon Draisaitl scored his first of the season in the opening minute, with Bouchard earning the assist. Paul Cotter got Vancouver on the board four minutes later, but Trent Frederic answered just over 30 seconds after that with his first goal of the season.
Then the goals came in bunches. Brock Boeser beat Devon Levi off the post and in 43 seconds after Frederic’s marker. On his next shift, Frederic took a penalty, and that turned into a gift for Edmonton: Connor McDavid and Kasperi Kapanen each scored short-handed, and both picked up their first goals of the season.
Vancouver wasn’t done, though. Arshdeep Bains made it 8-3 with 0.2 seconds left in the second period, then the Canucks kept climbing back in the third. Marco Rossi scored two minutes into the final frame, added another three minutes later, and Elias Pettersson scored to pull Vancouver within 8-6.
Draisaitl then gave Edmonton some breathing room again with his second goal of the night midway through the third, this one on the power play. The Canucks answered once more with 72 seconds left, but that was as close as they got.
There was no shortage of offense, but there was plenty for Edmonton to clean up. Across the first two games of the season, the Oilers have scored 14 goals and given up 13.
The scoring has been there. The structure and the goaltending?
Not nearly enough.
Devon Levi had a rough night, allowing seven goals on 22 shots for a .682 save percentage. That came after Tristan Jarry posted a .739 save percentage in Tuesday’s opener. The Oilers are going to need much better work in net if they want to do more than just stay afloat.
Not everything was messy. Bouchard put together a monster night with a goal and two assists, giving him eight points on the season.
That’s the most by any defenceman through the first two games of a season in NHL history. Ryan Shea and Mattias Ekholm also finished plus-3, along with Bouchard, and none of them were the issue.
McDavid turned in a five-point night with a goal and four assists, while Draisaitl added two goals. Podkolzin chipped in a goal and an assist as well, and those four players are carrying a huge share of Edmonton’s attack right now.
Owen Michaels will remember this one for a long time after scoring his first NHL goal. Frederic and Isaac Howard also bounced back nicely alongside Josh Samanski, who was recently recalled. The line finished with 64.5 per cent of the expected goal share according to HockeyStats, and Frederic is already a quarter of the way to matching last season’s goal total.
Edmonton is back at home on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. MT to face the Seattle Kraken, and there should be some edge to that one after Ryan Lindgren’s hit on Evan Bouchard at the 2026 IIHF World Championship.
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Josh Samanski was recalled under emergency conditions to help fill the gap up front, giving the Oilers another temporary option while the lineup stays in flux. Edmonton also has Matt Savoie and Alec Regula on long-term injured reserve with month-to-month timelines, so Nugent-Hopkins status only sharpens the pressure on a depth chart that is already being tested in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]