The first time Devin Cooley faced the Edmonton Oilers in his National Hockey League career was back on Apr. 15, 2024.

It did not go well.

“The last time I played these guys was with San Jose in the regular season, and we lost 9-1,” recalled Cooley. “And they kept me in for eight goals because the guy on the bench [backup Georgi Romanov] had never played an NHL game before. And then they probably took me out after eight goals, and then he went in and first shot backdoor 9-1, and I felt really bad for him. But that was not fun. Those are the games where it’s like, ‘okay, this, get me out of here. I’m not really enjoying it.’ So I’m glad I was able to get some redemption. And I remember that game. I don’t know if those guys remember that game, but I remember it for sure. And I’m glad that tonight went a lot better than that one.”

Cooley’s second match-up against the powerhouse Oilers, and his first appearance in the Battle of Alberta, went a lot better than his first one. He made 36 saves for the Flames in a 4-3 victory over the Oilers in each team’s final game before the extended Olympic break. He allowed a pair of power play goals by Leon Draisaitl as well as a shot from Kasperi Kapanen that blooped over his shoulder and trickled into the net off his padding. Ryan Lomberg scored the game-winner in the third period to cement the win.

Cooley’s game included an extremely eventful first period that saw him lose a skate blade while the Oilers were pressing in the Flames zone (and make a save anyway), make a jumping blocker save off a weird deflection of a shot ramping off MacKenzie Weegar’s stick, and earn his first NHL point on a power play goal by Matvei Gridin.

Speaking to the media post-game, he was still confused as to how he lost his blade in the first period.

“I have no idea what happened,” said Cooley. “I think I probably hit it on the post, and it just popped off. But I tried like 10 times to skate without the skate blade, and I was like, ‘oh, yeah, I don’t think I have a blade.’ So then I just used my other leg and pushed, and luckily I made the save. But, yeah, I was swimming for a little bit because I still thought I had a blade. I thought I was just slipping on my pad or something. But, yeah, I was able to figure it out eventually. It just took me a little bit.”

Cooley’s record improved to 7-6-3 on the season, with a 2.27 goals against average and .921 save percentage. Huska praised his netminder’s performance after the victory.

“I actually thought early in the game he looked a little shaky,” said Huska. “And then once the game went on, he looked really comfortable. You know, sometimes when a goaltender lets one in that he doesn’t want to go in or he thinks he should add, they typically dig right in from that point. That was the feeling we had on the bench tonight. And he most definitely did that as the game went on in the third.”

The Flames aren’t where they hoped they would be at this point in the season. But at the very least, they have two goaltenders in Cooley and regular starter Dustin Wolf that can give them a chance to win on a nightly basis.

That’ll give something to build off of going forward.

The Flames are back in action on Feb. 26 in San Jose. In the meantime, it’s time for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

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