The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns lost 4-3 to the Philadelphia Flyers in a shootout. Ilya Bryzgalov faced his former team for the first time since they bought him out and he set out to prove his mettle. At :32 seconds of the first period Taylor Hall pressed the Flyer defence and stole the puck in their zone. From the right hand side he zipped a shot over the Flyers goalie on the far side to make it 1-0. At 4:02 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gained the blue line and cut to the left deaking out the defender and fired a wrist shot against the grain under the goalies arm to make it a quick 2-0 lead.

In the second period the Flyers had several chances to score but Bryzgalov was up to the test and stopped all attempts especially on a short handed attempt when he stoned a Flyers player twice in succession. But the Flyers out played the Oil in the second period to tie the game 2-2. Coach Dallas Eakins then called a time out and let the team know with no minced words that this is the time to get their act together. The Oil responded and kept the game tied in the second period.

In the third period the Oil went on a power play. At 11:52 the Oilers Young Guns finally were able to establish control in the Philadelphia zone as Justin Schultz moved the puck to Eberle then to David Perron who passed the puck across the goalies crease. It deflected off a Flyers player into the net to give the Oilers a 3-2 lead. But a few minutes later the Oil gave up two penalties to give the Flyers a 5 on 3 power play that they immediately capitalized on to tie it 3-3. They then moved on to over time with no results and then to a shoot out.

Jordan Eberly was the first Oiler up and made several back and forth moves and scored top shelf to take the lead. The Flyers countered and scored to make it 1-1. On the final shot the Flyers sent in a Rookie. Bryzgalov tracked him to his right and only a superlative wrist shot high to the net beat the Oilers net minder. But Bryzgalov proved himself worthy as the Oil were out shot 38-16.

In the meantime, Don Cherry Called out an Oilers fan for tossing their jersey on to the ice and said it was a shame. And that the Oilers fans were the best in the world.

The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns defeated the Calgary Flames 2-0 to take a 2-1 advantage in games this season in the Battle of Alberta. For most of the first period the goalies were solid not letting any goals in. Then at 17:22 Boyd Gordon moved the puck to Ales Hemsky who made a chest high pass to the front of the net. Ryan Smyth was there to deflect it off his chest to make it 1-0.

In the second period the teams were more conservative as they exchanged a few shots. In the third period the Flames pressed at the end of the game but took a penalty. At 19:54 there was a face off at center ice with a Calgary empty net. After a scrum Smyth came out with the puck and fired it to score his 50th career point against the Flames to win 2-0 and give the Oil a two game winning streak.

The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns shot down the Winnipeg Jets 6-2 to snap a six game loosing streak and give an early Christmas present to their long suffering fans. At 8:40 of the first period on a power play Ales Hemsky spotted Jordan Eberly behind the net and zipped a pass to him. Eberly then tapped it in at the side of the net to make it 1-0. Winnipeg tied it up three minutes later. At 16:07 Justin Schultz dug the puck out from behind the net and passed it over to Eberly who then saw Gagner slash to the front of the net. Eberly passed to Gagner who scored to make it 2-1.

Mid way through the second period Winnipeg tied it at 2. Then at 16:40 the Oilers top line buzzed the net. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins moved the puck over to Taylor Hall who then passed it to Perron who scored a backhander to make it 3-2.

In the third period at 4:28 Nail Yakupov got a pass from Perron. He blasted a shot wide but Jeff Petry was there to wrist in a shot to make it 4-2. At 8:34 the Oilers were on another power play. The Jets attempted to clear the puck out of their zone but Nugent-Hopkins picked the puck out of the air with his stick. He then froze the goalie and passed to Hall who blasted a shot from the right hand side to make it 5-2. At 16:16 Taylor Hall was on a partial breakaway with Nail Yakupov. Hall passed it to Yakupov on the break and he wristed it in to make it 6-2. This was followed by a flurry of slashes, cross checks and spears given to Yakupov who stood up for himself and was backed up by his teammates. There were generous penalties handed out all around. Merry Christmas.

The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns were thumped by the Saint Louis Blues 6-0 as they dropped their sixth straight.

And an Oilers jersey was cast upon the ice and lay there crumpled.

The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns have lost five in a row as they succumbed to the Avalanche 4-2. At 14:15 of the first period Taylor Hall got a pass into the Colorado Zone. He then zipped a shot passed the goaltender to make it 1-0.

In the second period the Oil got themselves into a 5 on 3 short handed situation which  Colorado capitalized on to make it 1-1. At 12:10 Taylor Hall barreled around the opposition net to steal the puck and make a sweet pass to Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who scored to make it 2-1. But the Avs got a lucky break on a missed shot that got to a winger to score and make it 2-2. Near the end of the second the Oilers were attempting to tie up the game on a power play but an errant play gave the Avs a short handed goal the eighth against the Oilers this season to make it 3-2.

Late In the third period the Oilers tried  to tie it up by pulling the goalie but Colorado got possession of the puck and scored an empty netter to defeat the Oilers 4-2.

The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns were shut out by a hot goal tender, going down to the LA Kings 3-0. The Oil kept it close in the first period but the Kings scored late to make it 1-0. In the second period Bryzgalov kept the period scoreless as he stopped 15 shots.

In the third period the Oilers were clearing the puck and went on a line change. But the puck was flipped high back into their zone, an LA Player was wide open all alone and scored to make it 2-1. Late in the third the Oilers had a 6 on 4 power play effort but the Kings scored into an empty net goal to make it 3-0.

The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns lost late to the Anaheim Ducks 3-2. In the first period at 6:18 Taylor Hall circled to the middle of the Ducks zone and fired a shot. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins then deflected the puck out of mid air to make it 1-0. Anaheim soon countered to tie it 1-1. In the second period Teemu Selanne scored his 49th career goal against the Oilers to make it 2-1.

In the third period at 10:26 Nail Yakupov got the puck out of a scrum on the right side boards by the blue line and made a smart pass to Gagner. He then broke down the middle on his own and deftly shot a backhand through the five hole to tie the game at 2-2. Late in the third the Ducks top line kept the puck in the Oilers zone. Dustin Penner got a pass in the high slot and let a shot go. It deflected off an Oilers defencemans stick and hit the top corner over Bryzgalov’s shoulder for the 3-2 win.

The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns were blanked by the Vancouver Canucks 4-0. The Canucks kept the Oil hemmed into their zone most of the first period and out shot them 14-4. But Dubnyk kept them in as it was scoreless after the first. In the second period Vancouver scored the first goal but the Oil were unable to generate any offense in response, with the period ending 1-0.

In the third period the relentless pressure on the Oilers finally broke through when the Canucks scored three more goals. The Young Oil seemed listless this night as they go down 4-0.

The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns went down to defeat against the Boston Bruins 4-2. The Bruins dominated the first period scoring 3 goals. But in the second period Luke Gazdic squared off against Milan Lucic in a heavy weight bout where each delivered crashing blows to make the fight a draw. This inspired the Oilers and at 3:25 David Perron gained the zone and used a screen to wire a shot to the top left corner to make it 3-1. Then at 17:27 Jordan Eberly gathered the puck in the Bruins zone and passed the puck to Perron. Perron slashed to the net and fended off the defender with one hand and with the other made a one handed wraparound shot on the right side and tucked the puck in to make it 3-2.

In the third period the Oilers outplayed Boston and out shot them 13-3 but were unable to get the tying marker. On a power play in the last few minutes the Oilers buzzed the net and hit the post a couple of times but Jarome Iginla gained control of the puck and scored an empty netter to end it 4-2.

The Edmonton Oilers Young Guns were able to withstand a late Hurricane rally to pull out a 5-4 overtime victory against Carolina. At 1:33 of the first period Nail Yakupov dug the puck out of the side boards and moved it up to Gagner who passed it over to Taylor Hall for a snap shot in the top right corner to make it 1-0. Five minutes later Carolina responded on a power play to tie the game 1-1. At 11:04 Andrew Ference pushed the puck up the left hand boards to find Taylor Hall who gained the zone up the boards. He passed to a streaking Nail Yakupov down the middle who made a snap shot through the five hole to make it 2-1. At 18:14 Ference shot the puck into the Carolina Zone. Jordan Eberly picked up the puck on the right hand boards and fed the puck to a trailing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins who picked the top right hand corner to make 3-1. The three first round picks all scored in the first period.

In the second period at 1:40 Mark Arcobello smartly bounced the puck off the end boards to himself then fed a pass to the front of the net where Jesse Joensuu scored to make it 4-1 and a seeming route. But Carolina pushed back when Jordan Staal scored to cut the lead 4-2.

In the third period the Oil were on a power play when Eberly gave the puck away to Eric Staal. He went speeding down the left hand side and faked a slap shot, the goalie bit and sprawled out, Stall then handled the puck to the left and scored into an empty net at a sharp angle to make it 4-3. With 5 minutes left in the game the Canes put pressure on the Oilers in their zone. A Carolina player slapped a turn around shot from the blue line and scored a seeing eye goal through traffic to tie the game 4-4.

In overtime Ryan Nugent-Hopkins drew a penalty when he tried to protect the puck and was crashed into the boards. On the power play the Oilers Young Guns gained possession in the Canes Zone. At 1:48 in a triangle formation Eberly passed to Gagner near the left circle, he faked a slap shot and passed it to Hall on the right hand side of the goal. Hall fed a pass through the crease to Eberly on the left hand side of the goal. Jordan Eberly stopped the puck with his skate, a Carolina player hit the puck back on to Eberly’s Skate then Eberly shot the puck on the short side to score and give them a 5-4 win with a euphoric but frustrated cheer from the fans. The Oilers now have a 7-3-1 record in their last 11 games.