EDMONTON – Having a wholesome Zach Hyman again and discovering his recreation once more bodes very effectively for the Edmonton Oilers.
Hyman scored three objectives and Connor McDavid had 4 main assists because the Oilers emerged with a 4-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.
The veteran ahead suffered a wrist damage in Game 4 of the Western Conference last towards the Dallas Stars and required surgical procedure that left him out of the lineup for Edmonton’s first 19 video games this season.
Hyman was held with out a objective in his first six video games upon his return, however now has 5 objectives in his final six video games and seems like he’s beginning to get again into the groove.
“I feel the fingers are good,” mentioned the 33-year-old Toronto native, who registered 54 objectives in 2023-2024. “It’s not like I’ve scored a whole lot of objectives this yr, I simply obtained again. But I really feel good.
“I really feel like our line (with McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins) is beginning to discover a groove once more, beginning to discover chemistry. We’ve performed collectively for a protracted, very long time, so once we discover a groove and we’re in it and all on the identical web page, I really feel like we’re one of many prime strains within the league. It’s enjoyable when it’s going like that.”
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It was Hyman’s sixth profession regular-season hat trick, shifting him into sole possession of seventh in Oilers historical past.
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Captain McDavid mentioned it was good to see Hyman get the hatty.
“He’s enjoying effectively clearly, it was a giant evening for him, enjoying effectively, scoring three,” he mentioned. “It’s nice for his confidence, for him to start out feeling good, it’s essential.”
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch mentioned it was solely a matter of time earlier than Hyman began scoring once more.
“Zach obtained off to a gradual begin final yr the place he wasn’t placing the puck in, I feel it was 11 video games earlier than he obtained a objective,” he mentioned. “This yr it was type of the same begin, not that he ever performed badly.
“But getting back from the damage it’s perhaps feeling the puck. He’s a man we depend on to attain objectives. Connor set him up fairly properly tonight, however clearly scoring objectives is a tricky factor to do. But he’s accomplished it fairly commonly.”
It was McDavid’s fifth multi-point recreation in his final six outings and he has 12 factors in his final 4 video games.
“He’s taken his recreation to a different degree the final couple of weeks. I don’t have a solution for it, however I do know he’s been fairly dialed in,” Knoblaugh mentioned of McDavid, who has 34 factors (13 objectives, 21 assists) because the starting of November.
“He is aware of the season hasn’t gone in addition to it ought to for our group. As our chief and our captain and star participant he’s just about taken it upon himself to show this round. He desires to be a distinction maker.”
McDavid mentioned having each Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins again from damage to play on his line has been a giant consider his current level manufacturing.
“It’s my job to be an influence participant within the recreation and to assist transfer the needle for us and to generate probabilities,” he mentioned. “It was a very good homestand for our line. It was good to play with these two, a line that we’re actually snug with, all three guys are snug enjoying collectively and it was good to be again with these two.”
Mattias Ekholm additionally scored and Leon Draisaitl had a pair of assists for the Oilers (14-11-6), who’ve received three of their final 4 and went 3-1-1 on their current homestand.
“For us to get a couple of wins right here was actually essential,” mentioned Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner, who made 27 saves and has solely allowed 9 objectives in his final six video games. “Especially on a homestand, you need to financial institution as many as you’ll be able to.”
Edmonton now has an 11-1-3 file when scoring first this season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Dec. 12, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
