@
8-8-4, 1.0 p/g		10-8-2, 1.1 p/g
Western Conf: 12th		Western Conf: 8th

Top Story: And so it goes. The Oilers were badly outplayed in St. Louis, with Ladislav Smid playing like he was concussed and Ryan Jones playing like a fan who got an on-ice ticket for the game. The Wild aren't a good team, so the Oilers have a chance with or without Hall, but only if Ralph Krueger manages his matchups. If the Oilers are in for another night of their 4th line vs. the Wild's 1st, if could be a long evening.

The Oilers now have 3 points through 3 games on the 9-game road trip and it's looking less likely that they'll grab 12 points.

The Wild are slowly closing their shot margins, but they're still a mess when the game is close with a sub .450 Fenwick %. They are one of the 5 teams in a race for the 7th and 8th spot in the West and the shortened season can help them get in, but they certainly aren't a favorite to make the playoffs amongst those teams.

The Oilers are saying:

"I hope I can play. I hope that on Sunday it’s good."

--Taylor Hall on his prospects of playing today.

The Opponent is saying:

"No one inside the Wild organization has publicly uttered a single syllable about Mike Yeo's job being in jeopardy. "

--Bruce Brothers writing about Mike Yeo's job being on the line early in the season.

Hard to fathom Yeo's job is on the line, considering how much everyone believes in him.

Key matchup: If Hall is available, the key matchup is the Hall line vs. whoever Yeo chooses to put on the ice against him, given Ralph Krueger doesn't care about matching. If Hall can't go, hopefully Magnus Paaajrvi is placed back on a line with Sam Gagner and Ales Hemsky and Ryan Jones is placed elsewhere. The Paajarvi - Gagner - Hemsky line would give the Oilers a chance.