The Edmonton Oilers’ first two games of the 2027 NHL season have taken fans on a wild ride of entertainment, frustration, disbelief, and amazement while challenging you to balance the good with the bad. There has been a lot of both through the first 122 minutes of the season.

It is Positive Friday, so let’s start with the good.

GOOD…— Evan Bouchard has set two NHL records in two days. He was the first defenseman to score three goals and five points in a season opener, and his three points last night gave him the most points, eight, through the first two games of the season by any defenceman in NHL history. He also set the Oilers record for most points through two games. Wayne Gretzky’s best start was six points in 1987-88, and Connor McDavid has six previously, but he scored seven this year. Bouchard has 4-3-7 at five-on-five so far this season. His career high at five-on-five is 10 goals, and he already has four. He’s off to a ridiculous start. Bouchard has 103 points in his last 78 regular season games. Impressive. While he is lighting it up offensively, Bouchard has only been on for one goal against five-on-five. He’s outscored opponents 7-1 at five-on-five, and he has factored in on all seven goals. Crazy.— Connor McDavid has seven points in two games and outscored opponents 6-1 at five-on-five. He looks poised for another 100+ point season. I think 130 is very realistic.

— The Oilers have started both games very well. Even though Vancouver scored first in the season opener, Edmonton controlled the first 10 minutes. They’ve come out ready to play in both games, which is a good sign when you think how often they looked disinterested early in games last season.

— Owen Michaels scores his first NHL goal, and it was a nice goal. He found the open spot in the low slot, and the pass from Mathieu Joseph was on and off his stick in a second as he beat Kevin Lankinen cleanly. His hearty yell that you could hear on the TV broadcast was equally impressive. It is an amazing thrill and accomplishment when you score your first NHL goal, and I like when players show true, raw emotion.

— The Oilers have eight different goal scorers through two games. You want players to get some offensive confidence early. Scoring has never been a problem for this team, and 14 goals in two games proves that, but getting some depth guys on the scoresheet early is a bonus.

— Kasperi Kapanen’s breakaway goal. He’s used this move twice so far this season, and it has worked both times. Kapanen has been flying, and I know he’s been on the ice for too many goals against, but look at the three five-on-five goals he was on for last night. The first goal: Jake Walman bobbles it and can’t corral it in his feet, and Paul Cotter scores moments later. The second goal: Max Jones has the puck a few feet from the blueline but fanned on his clearing attempt, and the Canucks score three seconds later. The third goal: a weak wrister from the point ricocheted past Devon Levi. Often a player can be on the ice and do nothing wrong while giving up a goal. I think Kapanen has been flying and has played very well despite the goals against at five-on-five.

— Vasily Podkolzin has been flying. He has three goals, including two on the power play. He’s filled in on the top unit, taking Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ spot in the opener, and then he replaced Zach Hyman at the net front in Game 2. He scored in both positions. He’s been excellent in both games and is looking like a top line winger so far this season. That trade is looking more incredible by the day for Stan Bowman.

— “I’ve never met a bad win,” said Mike Babcock in his post-game address to his team. “We obviously can get way better and know that and we’re going to. We started the game like a real team; we just have to learn to maintain it.” It was wild to see them utterly dominate the Canucks and gain an 8-2 lead in the first 28 minutes, but then they let up. Scoring eight goals in 28 minutes is damn impressive. The Oilers have skill and talent; that is undeniable, and they can play sound defensively when they want to. They need to want to do it more often.

BAD…

— The Oilers have allowed 13 goals in two games, yet somehow, they’ve managed to pick up three of a possible four points. It isn’t a talent issue. It is a willingness to play smart for more than one period each game.

— Net front has been soft as butter. The Oilers need to protect their house much better than they have. Make it difficult for forwards to get to the net, and more difficult to remain in front.

— Goaltending needs to make some saves. Tristan Jarry allowed a horrible third goal in the opener and needed to make at least one stop on the breakaways/partial breakaways. Devon Levi was too active on rebounds around the net. He was sliding too far out many times. Maybe he was amped up for his first NHL game in 21 months, but Levi allowed seven goals on 22 shots, and Jarry allowed six on 23. They need to settle down and make some saves. They don’t need to be elite, just be reliable.

— Shakir Mukhamadullin had two rough games. He’s been on for six goals against at five-on-five, and he’s lost too many net-front battles. He is young, but he needs to learn to use his massive frame to his advantage. Lean on guys, box them out. He’s been too timid. I’ll be surprised if we don’t see Ty Emberson play his first game tomorrow against Seattle. Emberson deserves the opportunity to compete for the third pair RD position.

— Jake Walman needs to settle down. He looks nervous. He’s fighting the puck. Walman has played 10:04 with Mukhamadullin and 10:00 with Connor Murphy. With Murphy, the shots were 5-6, and they were outscored 1-0, but with Mukhamadullin, Walman was outshot 6-2 and outscored 3-0. It is early, but that pairing was not good.

— Connor McDavid has one shot on goal at five-on-five. He needs to shoot the puck. He’s admitted it doesn’t come naturally to him, and he thinks he passes most of the time, but he has the puck more than anyone, and he’s often in good shooting spots. He needs to shoot.

— The Oilers have a new goal song, called Striking Oil by Royal Tusk. I have no issue with the song, but the bad part is Oilers fans can’t hear it anywhere. It isn’t online. Royal Tusk, if you read this, send me a copy, and I will play it on my radio show. Send the song to gregor@sports1440.ca. Fans want to know the song.

What was good and bad for you? Respond with an equal amount of good and bad. It is too easy to always be negative.

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