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Oilers Stars Finally Arrive in Season’s First Win

The Edmonton Oilers finally got their first win of the 2024-25 season and their stars led the way.

Nick Horwat

Oct 15, 2024; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; at Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (29) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during overtime Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Oct 15, 2024; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; at Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (29) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Philadelphia Flyers during overtime Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images / Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
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Fans of the Edmonton Oilers can finally breathe a sigh of relief. With a 4-3 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers, the Oilers finally won their first game of the season. The Oilers started with a lousy 0-3-0, but they fought back against the Flyers to find the win column for the first time in 2024-25.

The Flyers opened the scoring with two goals from Calder Trophy hopeful Matvei Michkov. They were his first two career NHL goals, and it looked like the Oilers were going to be buried early in the contest.

Evan Bouchard even appeared to break through for his first goal of the season in the first period, but the tally would eventually be called back. The officials determined there was a goalie interference and the Oilers had their fourth goal called back on the season.

To that point, the Oilers had more goals called back (4) than they had officially scored on the year (3).

After battling from behind, the Oilers finally won their first game of the season. The stars played a big role in the victory, too. McDavid had a pair of assists including one of the game-winner which started from his own breakaway. Samuel Ersson stopped the breakaway, but McDavid picked up the loose puck and found a streaking Leon Draisaitl who buried the game-winner.

Before getting to overtime, McDavid’s first assist came on Evan Bouchard’s first goal of the season to tie the game at three. McDavid fed a pass through two Flyers skaters, hitting Bouchard who was on a deep pinch.

Stuart Skinner came up clutch in crunch time, too. He allowed those first two goals, but eventually got settled and made 27 total saves.

The panic level wasn't quite settling in for the 0-3-0 Oilers, but it certainly was far from where they wanted to be. Coming off of a trip to the Stanley Cup Final, plenty of people believe they can be the NHL's next champions.

There is still a lot of season ahead of them, but getting that first win should get the monkey off their back.

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Nick Horwat
NICK HORWAT

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