Oilers Lose 4-2 In Minnesota After Barely Going Through The Motions

The Oilers continued their spiral to the bottom with a horrific "effort" in Minnesota.

Game Thread: Edmonton Oilers @ Minnesota Wild - Oh Boy!

A win in Minnesota is a salve for a ton of ailments

Oilers @ Wild Lines & Pairings

Matchups for the tilt in St. Paul

Taylor Hall Ruled Out Of Wild Game

The Edmonton Oilers Twitter account announced today that Taylor Hall will not play tonight

Coach Krueger says Taylor Hall is "still feeling a strain in his leg" and is day-to-day but will not play against #mnwild today

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) March 3, 2013

The morning skate saw Magnus Paajarvi take Taylor Hall's place on the left wing with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jordan Eberle.

Hall's absence is a huge hit to Edmonton, as the Oilers are already struggling to hang with opponents at even strength and Hall means so much to the Hopkins-Eberle duo:

Hall's underlying numbers, when isolated by this WOWY are ridiculous. The Oilers might have a true top line, but it's a line that hinges on Hall.

Paajarvi was able to help Sam Gagner and Ales Hemsky break even in his last audition in the top six:

But who put up the best Corsi rate? Can you believe it — it was the Gagner line, with MPS, Hemsky, and Gagner ending the night 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in Corsi per minute. Paajarvi was, in fact, the only player on the entire team to end the night in positives vs the Hawks. His play has been very solid for quite some time now, and he should be allowed to stay in the NHL to hone his craft. He looked perfectly fine on the 2nd line — in fact, he might be the best fit I’ve seen so far. He’s able to think quickly and complete short, direct passes to Hemsky while not getting in his way and providing some support to keep the zone. His positioning is excellent, and gives that line a bit more breathing room to finish their work offensively by how aware he is getting back.

Oh Boy! Edmonton Oilers at Minnesota Wild Game 21 Preview

Forget St. Louis, forget Chicago. Minnesota is the second four-point game on the trip.