Oilers Headlines

Oilers rookie Yakupov snubbed in Calder voting

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:11:00 GMT

Despite leading all NHL rookies in goals and tying for the lead in points, Edmonton Oilers rookie Nail Yakupov did not earn a nomination for the Calder Trophy as the league's top rookie.

The NHL made the announcement this morning that Jonathan Huberdeau of Florida, Brendan Gallagher of Montreal and Brandon Saad of Chicago earned nominations.

The award is voted on by the members of the Professional Hockey Writers Assocation.

Yakupov scored 17 goals and had 31 points in his rookie campaign.

MacT promises change

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 20:47:00 GMT

The Edmonton Oilers could look a lot different when they hit the ice this fall.

"There is going to be some significant and meaningful change," said Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish during his season-ending news conference Monday morning. "Six to eight new members."

MacTavish singled out unrestricted free agent defenceman Ryan Whitney as one player who won't return. He didn't make definite comments about other players, except for saying forward Ryan Smyth would return.

"I'm pretty optimistic we can get some immediate growth and change," added MacTavish, who said several current players must improve for the team to get better. MacTavish feels the team has offensive talent so he wants to add "meat and potatoes" to the roster.

"My sense is to give the coaching staff greater tools to do their job going forward," MacTavish said. He'll be meeting with coach Ralph Krueger several times this week. "There are some concerns I have and some questions I have for Ralph, and I'm sure he has plenty for me, as well."

MacTavish is open to trading the Oilers first round draft pick. They're slotted to draft seventh overall. MacTavish feels it's a deep draft, so he would consider trading the seventh pick for a player and a pick later in the first round. (jrw)

Oilers Yakupov nabs two honours

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 19:53:00 GMT

Edmonton Oilers winger Nail Yakupov has been named the NHL Rookie of the Month for April.

Yakupov led all rookie scorers with 11 goals, 4 assists for 15 points in 14 games. He collected five multi-point games in the month which included his first career hat-trick on Saturday vs. the Vancouver Canucks.

Yakupov finished first among rookie goal scorers with 17 and tied for the lead in points with 31.

Yakupov has also been awarded the NHL's Third Star of the Week. He led the league with 6 goals last week in four games including five goals in the Oilers last two games of the season.

Oilers defeat Canucks 7-2

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 05:23:00 GMT

The Edmonton Oilers have finished their season on a high note with a 7-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Rookie Sensation Nail Yakupov scored a hat trick, the first of his career.

Yakupov is now tied with Jonathan Huberdeau of the Florida Panthers for points this season from a rookie with 31 points, and also holds the most goals from a rookie beating out Montreal Canadiens Brendan Gallagher with 17 goals.

Justin Schultz put up 4 points in the contest with a goal and 3 assists.

Jordan Eberle added to the offensive charge with 2 goals as well.

Another notable Oiler here would be newly acquired Jerred Smtihson who grabbed his first goal as an Oiler since being traded.

Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves for the win.

Oilers have now finished their season with a record of 19-22-7. (bg)

Oilers defeat Wild 6-1

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 03:13:00 GMT

The Edmonton Oilers defeated the Minnesota Wild 6-1 on Friday night to avoid a series sweep.

Corey Potter and rookie sensation Nail Yakupov scored two goals in the contest to help lift the Oilers to their 10th road win of the season.

Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle added a goal and 2 assists each to add to the offensive charge.

Nikolai Khabibulin made 38 saves for the Oilers who put up a wall for the Wild.

Head coach Ralph Krueger says the performance of the team was just outstanding.

"Well first of all, we had outstanding goaltending from Nikolai Khabibulin. It was a really valiant effort on him. We needed a battle and we need something special on the back end. Going the other way those were some outstanding goals. What's been missing in the last couple of weeks, we seemed to explode with that good start. We stuck with the game right through. They gave a little bit of a push here and there at certain times, but Nikolai was shutting the door."

The Wild must win in their final contest against the Colorado Avalanche to clinch a playoff spot, or the Colombus Blue Jackets must lose their next game against the Nashville Predators.

The Oilers finish their season at Rexall Place Saturday against the division winning Vancouver Canucks. (bg)

Petry to Worlds; Hartikainen to Barons

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:24:00 GMT

Oilers defenceman Jeff Petry will play for the United States at the upcoming world hockey championship in Sweden and Finland. The tourament starts May 3.

Also on Thursday, the Oilers sent winger Teemu Hartikainen down to Oklahoma City of the AHL. He'll suit up for the Barons first playoff game tomorrow night against Charlotte.

The Oilers sign goalie Frans Tuohimaa to a two-year entry level contract. The 21-year-old was drafted by the Oilers in the seventh round of the 2011 draft. He's been playing in Finland. (jrw)

Oilers fall to Blackhawks 4-1

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 04:44:00 GMT

Patrick Kane led the way with a goal and two assists as the Chicago Blackhawks captured the NHL's Presidents' Trophy for the first time in 22 years with a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers Wednesday night.

Nail Yakupov scored the lone goal for the Oilers but he said the goal doesn’t mean much.

“We lost, so my goal doesn't matter. We're making too many mistakes right now.”

Oilers goaltender Devan Dubnyk made 23 saves in the losing effort. He felt his team shifted away from their game plan as the game went along.

“That's a team that'll make you pay for turnovers and they did. We can't just ditch our system,” said Dubnyk.

The Oilers continue to drop like a rock towards another high draft pick with losses in nine of their last ten.

“The lessons are right there in front of us. We got the outcome we deserved because of our puck management,” explained Oilers head coach Ralph Krueger."

The Oilers will head to Minnesota for their final road game of the season Friday night. They will then return home to host Vancouver in their season finale Saturday. (BU,The Canadian Press)

Three Oilers to play for Canada

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 23:46:00 GMT

At least three members of the Oilers will play at the world hockey championships in Sweden and Finland. Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, and Devan Dubnyk will suit up for Canada. The tournament starts May 3.

This will be Hall's first appearance at the worlds. He was injured and couldn't play the last last two seasons. Dubnyk joined Canada for the lat two two tournaments, appearing in three games. This will be Eberle's fourth straight appearance. (jrw)

Ducks blank Oilers 3-0

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 04:52:00 GMT

Viktor Fasth made 24 saves for his fourth shutout of the season as the Anaheim Ducks clinched the Pacific Division title with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

"It was a show for us, what playoff teams are playing like and thinking like right now,” said head coach Ralph Krueger. “We just can’t rise to that level, were going to try and regroup and try to find it, but the disappointment obviously is that when you look at us right now, you don’t recognize the team that was in 8^th place at the 35 game mark.”

Ryan Getzlaf, Radek Dvorak and Sami Vatanen scored for the Ducks, who won back-to-back games in Edmonton to capture their first divisional title since 2007.

The Oilers have now lost eight of their last nine games, and only managed to score one goal in their two meetings with the Ducks.

“There were several positive things," said Oilers defenseman Ladislav Smid. “I don’t think we played horrendous you know, I think the effort is there, but it just seems like we can’t find the back of the net. We have to keep it positive and try and find some energy moving forward."

Nikolai Khabibulin made 25 saves for the Oilers in the losing effort.

The Oilers will play their final home game of the season Wednesday night when they entertain the Chicago Blackhawks. (The Canadian Press,BU)

Oilers eliminated from playoff contention with 3-1 loss

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 03:52:00 GMT

The Edmonton Oilers will miss the playoffs for a seventh consecutive season after losing 3-1 to the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday.

Cam Fowler, Kyle Palmieri and Corey Perry scored for the Ducks, who snapped a four game losing skid.

Taylor Hall scored in response for the Oilers, who have lost seven of their last eight games.

"To have another season where we're out of the playoffs is frustrating,” said Hall. “It’s something we're not proud of."

Hall notched his 15th goal of the year just a minute into the contest as he came in off the boards to beat Ducks starter Jonas Hiller between the legs with a wrist shot from the right face-off dot.

That was the only goal the Oilers were able to score on 28 shots.

“Our momentum goes high, it goes low, high and low you know, we have to play a full sixty minutes, “ explained Oilers forward Nail Yakupov. “They scored at the end of the first and the end of the second and we can’t let them do that.”

The Oilers will now play for pride with just four games remaining on the season. They will battle the Ducks for the second straight game Monday night from Rexall Place. (bu, the canadian press)