It turns out all Zach Hyman needed to rediscover his scoring touch was getting rid of the teammate he calls the best player in the world.
OK, not really.
But with Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid missing his first start of the season following an ankle injury sustained in his first shift of Monday’s 6-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, Hyman finally ended a 10-game scoring drought with his first goal of the season.
It came at the end of an already decided 5-1 victory Thursday over a Nashville Predators team that has been a bit of a punching bag for the Oilers lately, with Edmonton earning points in 14 of their past 15 meetings.
But for someone coming off a career-high 54-goal season, only to enter this one on a drought that grew to double digits, you can bet Hyman will take it.
“He’s more expected goals this year than he was last year, he just hasn’t been able to finish,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “For him to score that goal, and I saw our bench very excited that that went in. Usually on a 5-1 goal late in the game, it’s not very much emotion, but for that one it was, the guys were very excited for him.”
First things first, McDavid is still on track for his original prognosis of missing two to three weeks.
That makes for a maximum of nine games at the top of that estimate, including Sunday’s game on the road against the Calgary Flames (6 p.m., Sportsnet One).
“Not much has changed. Maybe it speeds up a little bit, but it’s still looking to be two, three weeks,” said Knoblauch. “Probably closer to two weeks than three weeks, but still about the same.”
McDavid has taken some initial steps to test out the ankle since returning early from the road trip ahead of the team.
“He went on the ice for a few moments, but I wouldn’t say skating,” Knoblauch offered.
Not to the level his fans and teammates are used to seeing McDavid showcase, anyway, as the Oilers continue to look for alternate ways to fill the void out on the ice.
“Every team goes through injuries. It’s unfortunate, obviously, that the best player in the world is not playing and that doesn’t help,” Hyman said. “But it gives everybody in the room an opportunity to step up and play a little better. And I think that’s a good thing for this team, to be playing a bit better and then adding Connor McDavid when he comes back.
“The hope is that he comes back to a better team than he left.”
A big part of that improvement, of course, would be seeing their reigning goal-scorer return to the same form that helped the Oilers overcome all kinds of adversity last season — including an even slower start than they’re on now — on their way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
“It felt good to score, obviously. Huge win,” said Hyman, adding the key is not allowing yourself to get frustrated. “I’ve had a ton of looks at it, lots of high-quality shots and when you get those chances, I’m pretty confident I can score in this league, so I wasn’t too worried.”
He wasn’t the only one breathing a little easier after the Oilers returned to an even .500 on the season, as they sit 5-5-1 after having come out of the gates 0-3.
And if they’re hoping to continue that upward trajectory this week as they hit the meat of their early schedule, they’re going to have to overcome some tough opponents, and do so without their undisputed leader in the lineup.
“There’s more opportunity, right? Connor logs a lot of minutes, so those minutes are available and it will be by committee, obviously,” Hyman said. “Nobody’s going in there and replacing Connor McDavid. It’s everybody doing a little bit more and having more opportunity.”
The brunt of the slack, so far, has fallen on the shoulders of Leon Draisaitl, who led the way with two goals and an assist against the Predators.
“That’s why we are where we are as a team that wants to win the Stanley Cup,” Hyman said. “We’ve got two of the best players in the world. Realistically, we probably have the best player in the world on any given night between the two of them, right? They always say that to each other.
“And one goes down, the other one steps up. And fortunately since I’ve been here, there haven’t been prolonged injuries to anybody, but if that happens, we’ve got a lot of great players that can step up.”
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On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge