Patrick O'Sullivan News

Edmonton's Patrick O'Sullivan, left, battles with Jonathan Toews of he Blackhawks during the first period in Edmonton on Saturday.

The Oilers celebrate Ales Hemsky's empty-net goal against the Avalanche on Wednesday.

With the puck nestled in the net and the crowd at Rexall Place roaring, Patrick O'Sullivan threw his arms in the air and looked skyward in a goal celebration that seemed equal parts relief and elation.

They probably could have put the goal up on the scoreboard the moment Andrew Cogliano skated over to the penalty box in the third period.

Ales Hemsky picked up a goal and one assist while Patrick O'Sullivan notched the game-winner in the third as Edmonton used a three-goal final period to rally past Colorado, 6-4, at Rexall Place.

Ottawa Senator Jason Spezza slips the puck past Edmonton Oiler goalie Jeff Deslauriers to win their NHL hockey game in a shootout in Ottawa November 10, 2009.

They had been in town waiting around half a week for this contest. Yet the Edmonton Oilers were unable to exploit a quirk in the schedule and fell 3-2 to the Atlanta Thrashers, who were playing their third game in four days.

Wow: what a string of injuries. In addition to the already long string of injuries on the Oilers roster, today there was news that both Fernando Pisani and Patrick O'Sullivan have sustained injuries.

The critics say the shootout is a gimmick, not a game, more hokey than hockey. But, Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Mathieu Garon has never made any apologies for his ridiculous skill in the kitschy one-on-one battles, and after beating his old Edmonton Oilers' teammates on Monday, it was business as usual for the Shootout King.

Slava Kozlov hopes his first goal is the start of something good. Kozlov broke out of his slump with his first goal of the season and the Atlanta Thrashers beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 on Sunday for their fourth consecutive victory.

The Atlanta Thrashers will try to extend their longest winning streak of the season to four games when they host today's contest at Philips Arena against an Edmonton Oilers club that has been decimated by injuries.

It's getting so bad, the Edmonton Oilers are starting to lose players on off-days now.

They have three points from their first three games, which is probably appropriate considering how the Edmonton Oilers have played so far on this road trip.

Edmonton Oilers' defenceman Denis Grebeshkov has a sprained knee, which put him on the shelf for several weeks, and winger Fernando Pisani has had a recurrence of his ulcerative colitis and has flown home to see his doctor.

Ales Hemsky decided to gut it out. Having joined the team in Ottawa on Tuesday, the Edmonton Oilers winger was back in the lineup last night for the first time in nearly a week.

Oilers come up short in Buffalo Nikolai Khabibulin of the Edmonton Oilers makes a save with Patrick Kaleta of the Buffalo Sabres looking for a chance at HSBC Arena on November 11, 2009 in Buffalo, New York.

Edmonton's Patrick O'Sullivan scored on Pascal Leclair during the shootout in the overtime period but it wouldn't be enough as the Ottawa Senators went on to beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in NHL action at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, November 10, 2009.

It's a five-game road trip spread over 10 days with a pair of back-to-back encounters and a roster missing a half-dozen regulars.

There's been no luck o' the Irish for Patrick O'Sullivan, with that O in his name standing for how many goals he's got in the last eight games.

Ryan Potulny and Dustin Penner scored two of Edmonton's four power-play goals and also had assists, and the Oilers handed the Colorado Avalanche their first home loss of the season, 5-3 on Sunday night.