EDMONTON, Alberta — The Edmonton Oilers will likely be without hard-hitting forward Zach Hyman for the remainder of the playoffs because of an undisclosed injury to his right arm, coach Kris Knoblauch announced Wednesday.
Without providing details on the nature of the injury, Knoblauch said Hyman was scheduled to have surgery and was “most likely done” for the remainder of the postseason.
Hyman, who leads the NHL playoffs with 111 hits, was hurt midway through the first period of a 4-1 win over Dallas in Game 4 of the Western Conference final series on Tuesday night. The injury occurred at Edmonton’s blue line, when he out-stretched his arms to brace for what appeared to be a glancing hit from Stars forward Mason Marchment.
Hyman immediately dropped his stick, and was favoring his right arm as he left the ice and made his way up the tunnel.
Edmonton leads the series 3-1 with Game 5 at Dallas on Thursday night.
The 32-year-old Hyman is in his fourth season with Edmonton, and ranks sixth on the team with 11 points (five goals, including a game-winner, and six assists) in 15 playoffs games. Two of his goals came in a 6-1 win over Dallas in Game 3 on Sunday.
One replacement option for the Oilers is turning to veteran forward Jeff Skinner, who has been a healthy scratch since the 15-year veteran had an assist in making his NHL playoff debut in a 6-5 loss to Los Angeles in Game 1 of Edmonton’s opening-round series.
“It’s a big loss,” teammate Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said of Hyman following the game. “He’s a big part of our team, on and off the ice, the way he does things. You’ve seen his physicality.”
