Matthew Savoie First NHL Goal! 📹: Sportsnet / #LetsGoOilers
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Oilers’ top moments of 2025-26: First career goals and highlights
Photo credit: Perry Nelson-Imagn Images
Jul 31, 2026, 13:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 30, 2026, 16:10 EDT
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.
After back-to-back Stanley Cup Final appearances, there weren’t a whole lot of positives from the Oilers 2025-26 season. Their 93 regular-season points were the fewest in any non-COVID season since 2018-19. They still made the playoffs, but they didn’t go far, as they fell in six games to the Anaheim Ducks.
Still, there were a handful of notable moments that didn’t make our top five list, and in this article, we’ll take a look at them.
Which Oilers players scored their first career NHL goal in 2025-26?
Matt Savoie
There were a handful of first career goals this past season, the most notable of which belonged to Matt Savoie. Facing the New York Rangers on Oct. 30, the rookie received a fortunate bounce off his skate late in a power play to give the Oilers the lead. It wasn’t pretty, but a goal is a goal.
Savoie went on to score 17 more goals, including his first career hat trick in the final game of the season against the Vancouver Canucks. He was fantastic after the Olympics, and if he can build off it next season, he has the chance to become a top-six forward.
Isaac Howard
As does Isaac Howard, who scored his first goal on Oct. 21 against the Ottawa Senators. Connor McDavid forced a turnover on a forecheck (let’s be real, it should’ve been a penalty), Leon Draisaitl grabbed the loose puck, and found Howard in the slot for a one-timer goal.
🚨FIRST NHL GOAL🚨 ISAAC HOWARD 🥶 📹: Sportsnet
Although Howard scored his first goal before Savoie, he had far less of an impact this past season. Howard only played 29 games, scoring two goals and five points in limited action. That said, he was fantastic in the American Hockey League, scoring 24 goals and 50 points.
Josh Samanski
Joining the Oilers in the second half of the season, German centre Josh Samanski cemented himself in the bottom six. His first goal was not pretty by any means, I’d go so far to describe it as ugly.
Facing the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 21, the Lightning won the puck near the corner, and a pass back to the open defenceman took an odd bounce off his stick and into the back of the net.
VASILEVSKIY ALLOWED THAT IN?! 📹: Sportsnet
At least Samanski’s first career playoff goal in Game 2 was much nicer. Anyway, he, Howard, and Savoie figure to be members of the Oilers lineup going forward. Of the three other players to score their first NHL goal last season,only one remains in the organization.
Connor Clattenburg
Connor Clattenburg is best described as a player you hate to play against, but love to have on your team. Selected in the fifth-round of the 2024 draft, the energetic forward made his debut early in the season, and scored his first career goal in a blowout loss against the Dallas Stars on Nov. 25. Still, a special moment.
CONNOR CLATTENBURG, HIS FIRST NHL GOAL! 📹: Sportsnet | #LetsGoOilers
Noah Philp
Noah Philp played 15 games for the Oilers before being claimed off waivers by the Carolina Hurricanes. He managed to score twice, with his first career goal coming on Oct. 11 against the Canucks. On a rush chance, Kasperi Kapanen got the pass to Philp as he was driving the net, allowing the right-shot centre to fire it past the Canucks’ netminder.
Noah Philp 418th player in Oilers NHL history to score a goal
Philp played just two games with the Stanley Cup champions, then spent the remainder of the season with the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves. This off-season, he signed in Sweden, joining David Tomášek in Europe.
David Tomášek
Tomášek’s tenure with the Oilers was brief, as his contract was terminated in late December. His goal came on Oct. 23, receiving a pass near the point and ripping it past the Montréal Canadiens netminder.
David Tomášek Ties the game 1-1 with his first NHL goal! 📹: @Sportsnet
After departing the Oilers, Tomášek played for Czechia at the 2026 Olympics, falling to Canada in the quarterfinals.
What other notable moments highlighted the Oilers’ 2025-26 season?
As far as additional moments that weren’t first career goals, there aren’t a whole lot. Again, it was a rather disappointing season after falling to the Florida Panthers in the 2025 Stanley Cup Finals. A big reason for that defeat was the absence of Zach Hyman.
Injured in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, Hyman didn’t make his season debut until the 20th game of the season. Recovering from a dislocated wrist, Hyman picked up just two assists over his first six games.
Finally, he found the back of the net against the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 29. Interestingly, the player that injured him, Mason Marchment, played for the Kraken at the time, and that game had a whole bunch of chipiness.
Textbook ZMH 📚 #LetsGoOilers
That goal opened the floodgates for Hyman, who scored 27 goals and 41 points over his next 38 games. In the end, he finished with 31 goals and 52 points in 58 games, on pace for 43 goals and 73 points over 82 games.
The last noteworthy moment from the Oilers’ season involves Jack Roslovic signing early in the season. His first big movement came on November 10th against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Roslovic took a late penalty with the Oilers down a goal, but Jake Walman was able to find the game-tying goal. Roslovic made up for it, scoring the overtime winner on the breakaway.
FROM JEERS TO CHEERS, JACK ROSLOVIC WINS IT IN OT!! 📹: @SportsOnPrimeCA | #LetsGoOilers
The following game, the Oilers and Philadelphia Flyers were deadlocked at one after 60 minutes, forcing the two teams to play three-on-three. Once again, Roslovic earned the Oilers the extra point, as Savoie gave him the easy tap-in on the two-man breakaway.
JACK ROSLOVIC WINS IT AGAIN IT OVERTIME! 📹: Sportsnet
Unfortunately, Roslovic was unable to match the most consecutive games with an overtime goal, at the Oilers fell 5-4 to the Blue Jackets on November 15. That record, funnily enough, belongs to Andrew Cogliano, who did it all the way back in 2007-08.
It wasn’t the best Oilers’ season by any means, but there were still some bright spots in what was a rather disappointing year of hockey.
What were the top Edmonton Oilers moments of the 2025-26 season?
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scores winner in 1,000th game
- McDavid scores five points in late-season game against Sharks
- Jason Dickinson scores twice in Oilers’ playoff debut
- Bouchard and Ekholm score back-to-back hat tricks
- Leon Draisaitl scores 1,000th NHL point
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Oilersnation, FlamesNation, and Blue Jays Nation. Follow her on X at @Ryley__Delaney.
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Edmonton OilersTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2026-27
2027-28
Projected Cap Hit
$99,274,166
$87,350,000
Projected Cap Space
$4,725,834
$26,150,000
Current Cap Space
$4,725,834
$26,150,000
Active Players
23/23
15/23
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'26
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