DALLAS — Someone had to say something.
In a dressing room full of devastated Edmonton Oilers players, some in tears and all in various stages of undress after a Game 7 loss at Florida in last year’s Stanley Cup Final, Zach Hyman decided he would be the voice.
“There’s nothing that’s going to make this feel better. Nothing we say,” he said, in footage aired as part of the Amazon documentary on last spring’s playoffs. “But I (expletive) know — I know — we’re going to be back. I (expletive) know it. I know it in my (expletive) heart.”
Ironically, it looks like Hyman will be proven prophetic. Almost.
With his team one win away from becoming the first Canadian team to play in back-to-back Cups since the dynasty Oilers of 1987-88, it was announced on Wednesday that Hyman will not be part of Edmonton’s likely return to the Cup Final.
His season is over, with Hyman scheduled for surgery on Wednesday on his right wrist, which we suspect was broken on a relatively innocuous fly-by hit by Mason Marchment in Game 4 Monday night.
It is hockey’s way, over the course of the most gruelling road to a championship of any of North America’s major pro sports, that players fall by the wayside.
But this one will sting for Edmonton. Hyman is a leader off the ice and a consistent producer on it, leaving a hole in the lineup that can’t be filled by simply plugging the “next man up” onto Connor McDavid’s right flank.
“He’s put everything out there,” head coach Kris Knoblauch said on Wednesday. “You look at what he’s done the last two years in the playoffs (21 goals in 40 games). Last year, throughout the season, he scored 70 goals and numerous big, important goals in the playoffs. And this year, scoring key goals, but the physical department…
“How many hits he had and his two-way play was tremendous. Now that we’re going to be missing him, we’re going to need other guys to step up.”
Hyman led the postseason with 111 hits, a mile ahead of second-place Sam Bennett (82). He had 5-6-11 in 15 games, making him a top-20 playoff scorer upon his exit.
Hyman’s departure likely cements right-winger Viktor Arvidsson in the lineup for the rest of this Oilers’ run, while one of Jeff Skinner, Max Jones, or, quite possibly, the right-shot penalty killer Derek Ryan could draw in until depth right-winger Connor Brown returns from what is believed to be a concussion.
“(Brown) won’t be playing next game,” Knoblauch said, “but he’s doing well, and we hope that he can come in shortly after that.”
If the Oilers can finish off Dallas in Game 5 Thursday, word is they could have a week off prior to Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final in Edmonton. That would likely ensure that Brown — and returning defenceman Mattias Ekholm — could be in the Oilers lineup to open the Final.
East to best
We’d all agree: no NHL general manager in his right mind would trade you Jake Oettinger straight across for Stu Skinner. Not with Oettinger’s career saves percentage of .912, his Team USA standing, and his firm belief that he’s “one of the best goalies in the world,” as Oettinger told the media the day after getting smoked 6-1 in Game 3 of this West Final.
So how is it, then, that Skinner’s numbers this playoff year — a .910 saves percentage and a 2.47 GAA — have suddenly climbed past Oettinger’s (.908, 2.72)? And what of this Round 3, where Skinner — with a save percentage of .939 and a goals against of 1.76 — has for the second Conference Final in a row outplayed Oettinger (.869, 3.55)?
Yes, it’s been a tough couple of weeks up in Edmonton for the “can’t win with Skinner” lobby. Not to mention the “he doesn’t go East-West well enough” statistical club, and the “they’re wasting Connor McDavid with this guy” t-shirt factory.
Skinner, like the team in front of him, was neither consistent nor overly impressive during the regular season. But once again in the post-season, when Edmonton rolls out a defensive game they can win with, Skinner gives them goaltending to match.
Supernova
A supernova is a catastrophic stellar explosion where a star collapses and then explodes.
In the past week, the Dallas Stars have been more “collapse” than “explosion,” scoring just eight goals in this four-game series. That’s a tough way to live in what Darryl Sutter used to call “a 3-2 league,” especially against an Oilers team that’s pumped 16 pucks past Oettinger in four games.
Wyatt Johnston doesn’t have a point and is minus-5. Matt Duchene went 0-0-0 in this series a year ago, and has just a single goal and a minus-6 beside his name this time around. The Stars don’t have a single point-per-game player in the series, while Edmonton has four.
The Stars haven’t held a lead since the third period of Game 1.
All in all, the difference in this series has boiled down to Edmonton’s superior support scoring, aided by better goaltending, against a Dallas team that’s generating enough chances, but has somehow lost its finish. Here are the deets:
|
|
Dallas |
Edmonton |
|
Time leading |
14:02 |
169:05 |
|
Goals for |
8 |
16 |
|
Goal scorers |
6 |
11 |
|
Three-point players |
3 |
7 |
|
Four-point players |
0 |
4 |
|
First-line goals |
1 |
6 |
|
First-line points |
6 |
19 |
|
Points by captain |
0 |
7 |
|
Even-strength goals |
4 |
10 |
|
Power-play % |
33.3 |
35.7 |
