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Best Oilers goals of 2025-26: No. 5 — Draisaitl notches 400th career goal

Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images

By Ryley Delaney

Jul 19, 2026, 21:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 20, 2026, 13:22 EDT

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This summer, Oilersnation will recap the top five Edmonton Oilers goals, the top five fights, and the top five overall moments from the up-and-down 2025-26 season.

There were several Edmonton Oilers who reached a meaningful milestone this season.

One of those milestone goals came in the Oilers’ first game of the season, as Leon Draisaitl managed to score his 400th career goal in what will likely be a Hall of Fame career.

Let’s take a look at the fifth-best goal of the 282 goals that the Oilers scored in 2025-26.

Leon Draisaitl’s 400th goal

Despite falling to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup final for the second consecutive season, there was still a lot of optimism heading into the year.

Like the off-season before, there was some turnover in their lineup, as Corey Perry, Connor Brown, and a handful of others departed for new organizations. In turn, the Oilers added middle-six forward Andrew Mangiapane, bottom-six forward David Tomášek, and a forward with top-six potential in Ike Howard.

Those savvy moves provided some optimism ahead of the Oilers’ first game of the 2025-26 season, a Battle of Alberta on home ice on Oct. 8, 2025.

Midway through the first period, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins kickstarted the scoring, the first of 282 goals they’d score in the regular season. Before the end of the first period, Mangiapane made an immediate impact, scoring on his former team to make it 2-0.

Carrying a 2-0 lead midway through the second period, the Oilers ended up on the power play. After an offensive zone faceoff win, the puck found its way to the point to Evan Bouchard, who passed it across the ice to Nugent-Hopkins.

A little delay allowed Tomášek to get open beside the net. With his back to the net, Tomášek received the puck on his forehand, quickly moved it to his backhand, and fired a cross-ice pass to Leon Draisaitl.

Like he had plenty of times before this, Draisaitl found twine for what turned out to be his 400th goal in the league, while Tomášek picked up his first career point in the NHL.

Riding high, the Oilers must’ve been able to hold the lead, right? Well, no, this is the 2025-26 Oilers, after all.

Four minutes later, Matvei Gridin scored his first career goal to get the Flames on the board, then Connor Zary cut the lead to one before the end of the second. It took the Flames 40 seconds into the third to score the game-tying goal, eventually winning the game after eight shootout rounds.

That was essentially a microcosm of what the 2025-26 season was for the Oilers, as they never found footing. For the second consecutive season, their big free agent signing didn’t pan out, as the Oilers eventually traded Mangiapane to the Chicago Blackhawks. Howard received limited playing time and never emerged as a top six option last season.

Even Tomášek, who showed a great bit of skill with the terrific pass, didn’t find footing in the league, as he and the Oilers eventually mutually terminated his contract.

About seven months later, the Oilers crashed out in the first round, falling in six games to the Anaheim Ducks in what was an incredibly weak Pacific Division. It was the first time they didn’t make at least the second round since the 2021 postseason.

But at the very moment of Draisaitl’s 400th career goal, there was still hope for what was an otherwise doomed season.

Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on X at @Ryley__Delaney.