Forward did not return to Game 4 after taking hit to right shoulder at 9:17 of 1st period
© Andy Devlin/NHLI
EDMONTON — Zach Hyman is likely out for the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs with an upper-body injury sustained in the Edmonton Oilers’ 4-1 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of the Western Conference Final at Rogers Place on Tuesday, coach Kris Knoblauch said.
The forward will have surgery Wednesday.
“We’ll just leave it as upper body,” Knoblauch said. “It will be a while, so we’re not expecting him back for the playoffs.
“He’s put everything out there. You look at everything he’s done the last two years. Last year, he scored about 70 goals and numerous big important goals in the playoffs. This year, he’s scored key goals but the physical department, how many hits he had, his two-way play was tremendous.
“And now that we’re going to be missing him, we’ll need other guys to step up.”
Hyman played 3:11 in Game 4 before leaving to be examined by the Oilers training staff after taking a hit to the right shoulder from Stars forward Mason Marchment. He was carrying the puck out of Edmonton’s zone and made a move to get past Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell when Marchment came from the other side. Hyman appeared to turn and get his arms up to brace for the impact before immediately dropping his stick and making his way down the hallway favoring the arm.
Hyman leads the playoffs with 111 hits and ranks fifth on the Oilers with 11 points (five goals, six assists) in 15 games. He scored 54 goals last season and 16 during Edmonton’s run to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
“It’s massive,” Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner said. “You’re missing a key player and also you go down a guy for lines, too, so extra ice time for other guys, which puts some miles on guys. The way that we responded was fantastic. You saw a lot of guys step up, skate hard, hitting guys the way that [Hyman] has been hitting. It’s really important to respond like that when something like that happens.
“He’s a huge piece, a key piece. He’s a leader in the room. The way he is after every period, he’s never too high, never too low. He is a cliché. He is a hard worker, he grinds, he does the little things right, and on top of that, he’s an amazing human being. You can ask anybody. Everyone loves that guy.”
The Oilers lead the best-of-7 series 3-1. They will have a chance to advance to the Final for the second straight season in Game 5 at American Airlines Center on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).
“It’s a big loss. He’s a big part of our team on and off the ice,” Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “The way he does things, you’ve seen his physicality, it’s important to our game, but other guys have already stepped up and tried to fill that gap.
“We’re going to need it, obviously, in however many games we have left, and we’ll wait to see about Zach, but guys are ready to step up. This is the time of year where everybody wants to step up and do things, and everybody is champing at the bit to get out there.”
The likely short-term scenario will see Jeff Skinner inserted into the lineup in Hyman’s place with Viktor Arvidsson already having come in for Connor Brown, a forward who missed Game 4 with an undisclosed injury sustained in Game 3 while taking a hit from Stars defenseman Alexander Petrovic.
Knoblauch said Brown will remain out for Game 5.
“He’s doing well, and we hope he can come in shortly after that,” Knoblauch said.
Jeff Skinner played the first playoff game of his 15-season NHL career, a 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Kings in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round. He had one assist before becoming a healthy scratch for the past 14 games with the return of forward Evander Kane.
“My time here, we’ve been pretty fortunate with injuries. Especially last year, we hardly had anything,” Knoblauch said. “And this year, for the first three-quarters of the season there was minimal time off for guys. And then it really piled up at the end of the season with numerous key guys.
“[Connor] McDavid, [Leon] Draisaitl, [Mattias] Ekholm, Hyman, just to name a few. And now in playoffs, there’s going to be times when guys are banged up and that’s part of the game. Right now, we’re missing some guys. Obviously, Zach’s going to be a huge hole, but we’re fortunate to have a lot of depth that guys can come in, step up and give us quality minutes.”
FLA vs. CAR | EDM vs. DAL
FLA vs. TOR | CAR vs. WSH | DAL vs. WPG | EDM vs. VGK
OTT vs. TOR | FLA vs. TBL | MTL vs. WSH | NJD vs. CAR
STL vs. WPG | COL vs. DAL | MIN vs. VGK | EDM vs. LAK
