The Edmonton Oilers had an opening night to forget as the Vancouver Canucks took it to them on Wednesday night for an 8-1 win. The Canucks scored the first four goals of the game, three of them from Brock Boeser.

The Oilers finally got on the board in the second period thanks to Leon Draisaitl, but that was their lone goal of the game as the Canucks scored four more for the seven-goal victory.

“Sometimes it’s good to get smacked a little,” Draisaitl said, via Tom Gazzola.

Perhaps it's better to get blown out now than later in the season or the playoffs, but it's always tough to endure a loss like that, especially when the Oilers were favored in the game. No matter how ugly it was, it does just count as one loss.

Draisaitl at least was able to get on the scoresheet in game 1 to kickstart his season. No one has scored more goals than him since the start of the 2021-22 season as teammate Connor McDavid sits right behind him at 108 goals.

The Oilers are coming off their second consecutive 100-point season though they failed to reach the conference finals after losing in six games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the second round last season. They're once again looked at as one of the juggernauts in the Western Conference, though Edmonton has not reached the Stanley Cup Final since 2006.

Having the duo of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid means the Oilers are always a threat to score. They weren’t enough to beat the Canucks on Wednesday though.