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CALGARY – Devin Cooley was the first to admit that his second career start against the Edmonton Oilers went way better than his first.
Cooley made 36 saves on Wednesday to backstop the Calgary Flames to a 4-3 victory over Edmonton as both teams wrapped up play and now head into the Olympic break.
“It was honestly really fun,” said Cooley.
“When it’s back and forth, and maybe I give up a goal that I don’t really want to give up and it’s like, oh, shoot, now it’s tied again. We’re going to the third, they get a power play. That’s what I live for, that’s where I have the most amount of fun, and it’s where you get the most amount of adrenaline and it’s awesome.”
It was in his fifth career start, while he was with the San Jose Sharks, when the Oilers lit up Cooley for eight goals on 22 shots before he was pulled 14 minutes into the second period.
“I’m glad that tonight went a lot better than that one,” said Cooley, laughing as he recounted that night on April 14, 2024. “Those are the games where it’s like get me out of here. I’m not really enjoying it. I’m glad I was I was able to get some redemption.”
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Cooley’s impressive body of work on Wednesday night, eight of his stops coming against NHL leading scorer Connor McDavid, who failed to get a puck past him, epitomized how his rookie season has gone so far.
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Despite Calgary (23-27-6) languishing near the bottom of the overall standings, Cooley hits the Olympic break with a 7-6-3 record
Of 74 goalies with five or more starts, Cooley’s .921 save percentage ranks him No. 1. Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy is second at .918.
“It’s nice to see him have such success early in the year for us. He’s come in and done a very good job,” said Flames coach Ryan Huska. “He’s allowed us to take some of the load off of Dustin (Wolf) and when he’s been in that, he’s given us a chance to win every night.”
That trust from the coach took a while to build, though.
After winning the backup job in training camp, despite going 0-2 with a .846 save percentage, Cooley only started twice in the first 16 games. When Calgary opened the season with games on back-to-back nights and three games in four days, Wolf started all of them.
But Cooley’s consistent play has earned him more playing time and the last 12 games have been split six games each.
“I actually thought early in the game he looked a little shaky, and then once the game went on, he looked really comfortable,” said Huska. “Sometimes when a goaltender lets one in that he doesn’t want to go in, or he thinks he should have had, 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.”
Calgary led 3-2 in the third when Kasperi Kapanen tied it for Edmonton on a shot that Cooley partially stopped, but it rolled down his arm and dribbled over the line.
But the Flames answered right back with Ryan Lomberg scoring the game-winner less than three minutes later.
“He’s an easy guy to play for, for sure,” said Lomberg. “His personality and the character he has, he’s great in our locker room and the boys love him and are hungry to play in front of him.”
Full of personality, colourful quotes and the owner of a rabbit, Tito, who has his own cult social media following, Cooley is a vibrant character off the ice and Huska said it’s the same on the ice.
“I try not to listen to any of the comments that come out of his mouth,” said the Flames bench boss with a smile. “He’s very much a free spirit. The players really enjoy having him around, and they really enjoy playing in front of him. There’s something to be said about people that have a positive vibe or an aura about them.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press
