The Last Five First Goal Scorers Of The Season For The Oilers
The Edmonton Oilers have had some great first goals of the season the past few years.
Today, let’s look back at the last five years of opening night goals for the team. Luckily they have not been shut out on night one over the past five years, and in fact, three of those past five years include games against the Vancouver Canucks. How about that?
Let’s dive in with the list:
2017-18 Season: Home Opener Against The Calgary Flames
The Edmonton Oilers began the 2017-18 season with a home game against a rival in the Calgary Flames. The young Connor McDavid scored the first goal, with McDavid actually scoring the first three goals of the season, as the team won three to zero that night.
Edmonton was led by a great performance by McDavid in night one, and it also showed a great game from Leon Draisaitl who had two assists, and Pat Maroon who had an assist on the first goal.
Cam Talbot was great in the net as his performance was good enough for a shutout, and on the other side of the ice, Mike Smith was in net for the Calgary Flames. Small world as he would later join the Oilers a few seasons later.
2018-19 Season: On The Road Against The New Jersey Devils
These are the types of games I am writing this article for. During the 2018-19 season, the Edmonton Oilers’ fist game came on the road against the New Jersey Devils. The first goal of the season belonged to Milan Lucic. It is amazing how quickly teams change.
Lucic and the Oilers would go on to miss the playoffs in 2018-19, in fact, Lucic would only put up 10 goals and 24 assists through 82 games with the team, a major drop off from his 23 goals the year before.
For the Oilers, the 2018-19 was the last season to feature a team that has not pushed for the playoffs in a drastic way. Both in 2019-20 and 2021-22, the Oilers made the postseason, although they did not do a lot once they got there.
Edmonton hopefully will have a more noticeable player score the first goal of the season in 2021-22.
2019-20 Season: Opener Against The Vancouver Canucks
The Edmonton Oilers began the 2019-20 season with a game against the Vancouver Canucks. Vancouver would not win the game as Edmonton won the game three to two in regulation.
Edmonton’s first goal of the season belonged to Leon Draisaitl in 2019, and this is fitting as Draisaitl would go on to have 43 goals and 67 assists for 110 points this season. McDavid missed some time with injuries, and Draisaitl stepped up this season.
Other goals on the night belonged to Zack Kassian and Connor McDavid, both primary assists on those goals belonged to Draisaitl. The 2019-20 season was one that featured a great regular season followed up with a disappointing play-in series against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Hopefully, this new season will see Draisaitl and McDavid be as successful as they have been in the past.
2020-21 Season: Opener Against The Vancouver Canucks.
The Edmonton Oilers began last season with a loss to the Vancouver Canucks 5 to 3 on January 13th, 2021. While the loss was a tough pill to swallow considering the team had high hopes going into the season, Edmonton did eventually get things under control.
The first goal of the season for Edmonton belonged to Kailer Yamamoto in 2020-21. His goal was assisted by Leon Draisaitl. Crazy enough, one famous Oiler was held off the goal sheet that night. McDavid did not have a single point that night and the other Oilers’ goals belonged to Darnell Nurse and Adam Larsson.
Yamamoto would go on to have eight goals and 13 assists on the season in 52 games for the team. Not bad for a young forward playing in his first full season in the league. Hopefully, Yamamoto can follow a solid year in 2020-21 up with a good season in 2021-22!
2021-22 Season: Home Opener Against The Vancouver Canucks.
Jesse Puljujarvi scored the first goal of the season last night for the Edmonton Oilers. Puljujarvi scored the only goal of the first period and helped set the tone for the team out of the gate.
Jesse does the honours & kindly blows the roof off @RogersPlace to really kick things off. So nice of him. #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/KrCiEngCgo
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 14, 2021
These are the type of goals this team needs. A big guy in front of the net, working on second and third opportunities all night to help get some scrappy goals. Especially when considering he was playing on a line with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl last night.
Puljujarvi starting the scoring is a nice touch when looking at the past five years. Now it goes from Puljujarvi to Yamamoto to Draisaitl over the past three seasons. Here is to a great season from Puljujarvi and the Oilers to come this year!