The Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames faced off in their first games of the 2025-26 NHL season Wednesday night (Oct. 8) at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. The Oilers are coming off a second consecutive season as Western Conference champions, but another Cup Final loss. Meanwhile, the Flames missed the playoffs last season, but come into the season with a young roster and renewed hope.
Related: Projected Lineups for Flames vs Oilers — 10/8/25
The Flames won this one 4-3 in a shootout. Here’s your game recap.
Game Recap
The first period of the season between these two had limited action for the first half. But finally, around the halfway point, Morgan Frost took a delay-of-game penalty and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins capitalized on the ensuing power play for Edmonton. Their lead would double a little under seven minutes later when Andrew Mangiapane picked up his first as an Oiler on an absolute missile over the shoulder of Dustin Wolf. Newly re-signed Connor McDavid tallied assists on both goals. The period ended with Edmonton out front 2-0, with the shots in their favour at 9-4.
The middle frame also took a while to get going, but another Flames penalty midway through the period sparked the Oilers. David Tomasek made a beautiful cross-crease pass to Leon Draisaitl to extend the lead and, in the process, give him his 400th career NHL goal. It was also Tomasek’s first career NHL point, so a very decorated goal for Edmonton.
Just a few minutes later, the Flames got a lucky bounce off an Oilers skate and Matvei Gridin was credited with his first NHL goal, cutting into the deficit. Calgary took the momentum and ran with it as they got a quick power play, and Connor Zary batted one home to move them another goal closer. The period came to a close with Edmonton still ahead 3-2, and the shots in their favour at 20-11.
The third period started fast as Stuart Skinner’s indecisive puck play led to Blake Coleman poking one past him to tie the game 40 seconds into the frame. Both teams played careful, defensive hockey from then on with the game being tied. After three periods, the score was tied 3-3, with shots in favour of the Oilers 29-19. This one needed extra hockey.
Overtime brought some good action and a MacKenzie Weegar holding penalty and 10-minute misconduct, but nothing more. The game remained tied, with the shots at 35-22 for the Oilers after overtime.
In the shootout, Draisaitl struck first for Edmonton with a nifty side-to-side on Wolf. Then Frost answered quickly for Calgary with a glove-side snipe. It all came down to the extra rounds in this one, and in the eighth round, Nazem Kadri completed the comeback for his team and buried one.
There were some great performances in this season opener. Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and two helpers, McDavid had a pair of assists, and Draisaitl had a goal and an assist. As for the Flames, they spread the love, with points all over the roster.
The Oilers’ next game is Saturday, Oct. 11, against the Vancouver Canucks on home ice once again. The puck drops at 8 p.m. MDT.
The Flames face a quick turnaround as they play their next game Thursday night (Oct. 9) on the road. They will play at Rogers Arena against the Canucks with puck drop set for 8 p.m. MDT.
