Zach Hyman 'likely done' for remainder of playoffs for Edmonton Oilers
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Knoblauch moved his forward chess pieces around the board expertly for the last two and a half periods, with players farther down the lineup like Kasperi Kapanen and Viktor Arvidsson, in for Brown, stepping up.
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But, they are now down two of their top three right-wingers.
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What do they do for Game 5 in Dallas?
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They could potentially go 11 and 7, bring defenceman Mattias Ekholm back for his first game in over six weeks — they have been winning so haven't needed him even as he's gotten healthier — and go a forward short.
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In Game 4, Leon Draisaitl played over eight minutes in the third as Knoblauch kept throwing him out there, up a goal in the nail-biter until the empty-netters by Kapanen and Adam Henrique.
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Right now, the extra healthy forwards are left-winger Jeff Skinner, who played the first game of playoffs in Los Angeles but that's all, centre Derek Ryan and winger Max Jones, who haven't dressed in post-season.
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So, it's an issue.
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The Oilers overcame the injury to Hyman in Game 4, shutting the door in the third period, holding the Stars to just four shots — the second straight playoff game they've done that. They got the win in the highly-entertaining game because goalie Stu Skinner saved them in the first 20 minutes with his 16 stops but the Hyman loss looms large.
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'Not having him? It's massive… he's a huge piece, a key piece. After every period, he's never too high, never too low. He is a cliché. He grinds, he does the little things right. He's a leader in our room,' said Skinner.
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Nugent-Hopkins, who the first NHL player in 35 years to record multiple points in the first four games of a Conference Final, is a leader, too. But, Hyman has brought something black and blue to the playoff stage with all those hits.
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'You've seen his physicality, it's important to our game,' said Nugent-Hopkins
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'We're going to need it from other people filling the gap, obviously, in however many games we have left and we'll wait to see about Zach. Everybody wants to step up, everybody's chomping at the bit to get out there. Tonight, it felt like we were doing this for Zach, getting the job done for him.'
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Hyman is on the first line with Connor McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins, their best player in this series (nine points in four games). He also alternates net-front on the power play with Corey Perry, who scored there in Game 4 and also is on the third forward pair on the penalty kill with McDavid.
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'He means everything to us, he's a workhorse, a dog on a bone on the puck. The way he was forechecking and hitting and finishing like he was in Game 3, that's Zach Hyman,' said Perry.
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So we'll see what Knoblauch's plan is for Game 5 Thursday. The Oilers defence corps have been terrific, but maybe they finally give Ekholm a seat at the table after not playing since April 11 and go with seven D and 11 forwards.
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Or maybe they bring Jeff Skinner into the picture? He would seem to have a leg up on Ryan or Jones.
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'Going into the third period I had the luxury of double-shifting Leon. The conversation with him was 'get prepared to play a lot of minutes,'' said Knoblauch.
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'Podkolzin, Kapanen, (Mattias) Janmark picked up where they left off earlier in the playoff run. (Trent) Frederic is new to us and starting to contribute. Everybody stepped up and the defence also did a very good job moving the pucks out so we didn't have to be in the defensive zone, as much.'
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Draisaitl came away very impressed.
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'I thought we dealt with it well (no Hyman). Guys farther down the lineup had elevated minutes. Arvy, Kappy they stuck out. They were really good,' he said.
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Pivotal face-off win
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The Oilers were badly beaten in the face-off circle (Oilers won just 39 per cent) in the game but Draisaitl won a pivotal draw in the Oilers end to help set up the Kapanen goal with two and a half minutes left.
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'I certainly felt I was struggling a bit on the face-off dot (9-9). They're a good face-off team, they have righty-lefty everywhere and that helps a lot, but there were numerous little plays on that (empty-net) goal. It's like a domino effect,' said Draisaitl.
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'Nurse with a really good pick, Kulak with good patience and a high flip, a great read by Kapanen. Just a lot of smart hockey plays and a big goal for us.'
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This 'n that
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Oilers forward Evander Kane also missed the last five or six minutes of the second period, leaving the bench for an undisclosed reason, but the winer was back for the third, and played four minutes.
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Bouchard gave a cheeky slash to the same left foot of Roope Hintz, the same foot that Nurse whacked in Game 2 which had Hintz in a foul verbal mood. Hintz missed Game 3 but played 17 minutes and was 10-5 on face-offs Tuesday.
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CTV News
44 minutes ago
- CTV News
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Oilers Stars Hockey Dallas Stars centre Colin Blackwell (15) tussles with Edmonton Oilers defenceman Jake Walman, front left, and forward Trent Frederic (21) during the first period in Game 2 of the Western Conference finals in the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Friday, May 23, 2025, in Dallas. (LM Otero/AP) 'I think we're better equipped this year. We've got, especially up front, a lot more physical players,' said Knoblauch, highlighting the addition of Kane and Frederic to the lineup. Nurse said he expects the Cup final rematch with the Panthers will 'be a fun series.' 'They play a hard style of hockey. They play physical. They're in your face,' Nurse said. 'In each and every shift, you've got to go out there and – I know it's a cliche – give 100 per cent and work as hard as you can, because they're a team that doesn't give any free space. 'We have a lot of guys in the room that can play that style, too.'
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Winnipeg Free Press
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