Just 103 seconds remained in the Edmonton Oilers’ 7-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Wednesday (March 13) when the announcement was made at Rogers Place.
“There has been a scoring change on the Oilers’ fifth goal, originally credited to Evan Bouchard. That goal at 19:08 of the second period is now awarded to Zach Hyman.”
Within moments, hats were raining down on the ice surface. That’s because the goal, which had been scored about an hour earlier, was Hyman’s third of the game.
The delayed celebration for Hyman’s hat trick was the perfect metaphor for his season: the veteran winger’s taken way longer to get his flowers.
More than three-quarters through the 2023-24 NHL schedule, Hyman is finally starting to get the recognition he deserves. He has an Oilers-leading 46 goals this season, tied with Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart for second most in the league, behind only Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who tops in the NHL this season with 55 goals.
Hyman is Having a Season for the Ages
To appreciate how amazing Hyman has played this season, consider these stats and facts that place him in the company of the greatest players in NHL history:
- He has four hat tricks, the most in a single season by an Oilers player since Wayne Gretzky in 1986-87. On Wednesday, he scored three straight goals to record his second natural hat trick of 2023-24. This makes Hyman only the second player in Oilers history with multiple natural hat tricks in a season and the first since Gretzky in 1980-81.
- He has an active streak of 10 consecutive home games with at least one goal, tying the Edmonton franchise record set by Gretzky. It’s also the longest streak in the NHL since Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux scored in 11 straight home games in 1995-96.
- He needed just 56 games played to get to 40 goals this season. Connor McDavid is the only Oiler to reach 40 goals in fewer games since the 1980s.
Hyman’s Play Has Gone Unnoticed
Hyman took the Oilers lead for goals on November 11 and has not relinquished it since (and this is on a team that includes two players, McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, who each have four 40-goal seasons to their credit). He’s ranked within the top 10 in the league for goals every day since December 6. But for whatever reason, his sensational scoring has flown under the radar all these months. He didn’t even get a spot on the Pacific Team roster for the 2024 NHL All-Star Game at the beginning of February.
Related: Hyman Snub Reveals Flaws in All-Star Vote; Here’s How To Fix It
Around the league, more attention was paid to Alex Ovechkin’s scoring slump than Hyman’s scoring surge. In Edmonton, more fans are talking about McDavid’s assist totals than Hyman’s amount of goals.
Hyman is the NHL’s Most Reliable Scorer
What makes Hyman’s performance this season particularly special is how consistent he has played. His longest stretch without a goal this season is three games, and that’s only happened twice. Even Matthews, for all his scoring prowess, has two steaks of four games without a goal. Reinhart went seven games between goals last month. McDavid, who lit the lamp an incredible 64 times in 2022-23, has separate goal droughts lasting eight and 10 games.
Dependability is a hallmark of Hyman’s game. What shouldn’t be lost to his gaudy goal total is his all-around impact on his team. He goes into the corners, wins puck battles, and back checks about as well as any forward on the Oilers. Along with McDavid, he’s one of only two forwards in the NHL this season with a plus/minus rating of at least 30.
Hyman Can Join Exclusive Clubs
If Hyman didn’t share a dressing room with the aforementioned best player on the planet, he would be MVP of an Edmonton team with the best record in the NHL since American Thanksgiving, going 35-9-2 in its last 46 games.
The Oilers return to action tonight (March 16) with a home game against the Colorado Avalanche. Hyman needs just four goals to become the seventh player to score at least 50 goals for the Oilers in a season. The other six are either already in the Hall of Fame (Gretzky, Glenn Anderson, Jari Kurri, Mark Messier) or will be there as soon as they’re eligible (Draisaitl and McDavid).
Going into tonight’s contest against the Avs, Hyman is averaging 0.73 goals per game. If he can score at a slightly higher rate over Edmonton’s remaining 18 games, he might reach 60 goals, something that only 24 other players have done in the NHL’s 107-season history. Maybe then the hockey world will stop sleeping on Hyman.
