This is the one Edmonton fans will retell as a box score with smoke coming off it: four Oilers goals in the first, four more in the second, and still somehow a white-knuckle finish. Vasily Podkolzin opened it on the power play at 9:26, Owen Michaels made it 2-0, an own-goal credited to Evan Bouchard followed 16 seconds later, and Ryan Shea’s late wrist shot sent Edmonton to the room up 4-0.
Leon Draisaitl struck 27 seconds into the second, and after Vancouver finally answered, Trent Frederic restored the five-goal cushion. Then came the weirdest flex of the night: while shorthanded, Connor McDavid scored on a backhand at 7:49 and Kasperi Kapanen added another 34 seconds later. Edmonton led 8-2, McDavid was piling up a five-point night, and it looked finished.
It was not finished. Vancouver scored at 19:59 of the second, then Marco Rossi scored twice early in the third before Elias Pettersson’s power-play slap shot made it 8-6 with 12:23 still sitting there like a threat. The dagger, finally, was Draisaitl’s power-play wrist shot at 9:26 of the third, set up by McDavid and Podkolzin. Jamie Oleksiak made it 9-7 late, but Edmonton escaped Rogers Arena with its first win of the season and a 1-0-1 record.