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How Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi fared in their ‘Oilers debut’

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The San Jose Sharks beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in Wednesday night’s game in the Young Stars tournament, but just about anyone will tell you that wasn’t the real story.

Nope, it was all about the “debut” of the Oilers three big prospects: No. 1 overall pick Taylor Hall, clever forward Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi, a talented winger who sadly dropped "-Svensson” from his name this summer. The Oilers reported that Paajarvi scored a goal while Hall produced a goal and an assist in the game, but Copper & Blue provided a little more color commentary for the three players’ performances.

The attention, as always, will be on the line of Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Taylor Hall, and Jordan Eberle. Three guys expected to make the NHL roster this season and have a big impact on the Oilers’ fortunes one way or another for a lot of years. They were clearly the best line on the ice for either team but, then, you’d hope so: the Oilers had gone thoroughly front-heavy and anything less than positional dominance would have been poor reward.

They had a little tough sledding early, where the strategy seemed to be “Magnus skates like the wind, Taylor and Jordan hope he gets the puck to them somehow.” Hall actually made a pretty good account of himself at centre: he won some faceoffs and was able to get some room to work down the middle (not exactly against the finest opposition but it’s something). Paajarvi was very much the straw that stirred the drink, with the overmatched Sharks prospects having absolutely no answer for his raw athleticism and his skill on the puck, while not as good as we’ve sometimes seen, more than good enough to make plays to Hall or Eberle. Jordan was the closest thing to a weakness on the line and he suffered only by comparison. He might, however, have been better off running with Hartikainen and Pitlick or something similar so he could use his skills without being overshadowed by Paajarvi and Hall’s Flying Circus.

So for those of you who are crazy interested enough to keep a Hall vs. Tyler Seguin tally for games that really don’t matter, Hall scored a goal and an assist while Seguin put up two helpers last night.

Here are some video highlights from the game, via the Oilers official Web site. Click here to search for interviews with Edmonton’s prospects and Taylor Hall’s “first goal” with Edmonton.