Yakupov Scores His First Professional Goal

Yesterday Nail Yakupov scored his first goal as a professional hockey player. But, thanks to the owners and players inability to find a way to divide up a pie worth more than three billion annually, the goal wasn't scored wearing the orange and blue of the Edmonton Oilers, instead Yakupov was dressed in the blue and white of Neftekhimik Nizhnekamsk where he is (after a lot of ups and downs) spending the lockout.

Nothing spectacular about the goal itself, Yakupov just picks up a loose puck in the slot and buries it behind Sergei Bobrovsky (remember that name, you might be able to win a bet with that knowledge some day). The goal might not have been particularly memorable but I think the goal celebration that followed could use a little work. Hopefully Yakupov was just excited and lost his balance but seeing him fall into the boards like that doesn't give me a warm fuzzy feeling, especially not after all the injuries the Oilers have had over the last few seasons.

The game ended 3-2 with Neftekhimik getting the deciding goal in the shootout. Yakupov scored both of the Neftekhimik goals during regulation and twice more during the shootout including the shootout winner. That's not a bad days work if you ask me. If you're interested, Jonathan Willis has more on the game at Oilers Nation