Zach Hyman had been on fire since returning from injury, with five goals in five games. This was in stark contrast to his form prior to his injury, with just eight points in 20 games to begin the 2024-25 campaign.
Hyman's rich vein of form continued on Monday night against the Florida Panthers. He scored two goals, with the promise of more to come in an completely enthralling encounter between last season's Stanley Cup finalists.
Then disaster struck, or more accurately the puck, as Hyman was hit squarely in the face by a deflected shot from teammate Evan Bouchard. With blood everywhere, the winger was forced to leave the game and the overriding sentiment was that his night was over.
Toughness personified
However, as tough as anyone might think Hyman is, it turns out that he's even tougher than you would anticipate. He was back on the ice for the third period against the Panthers, complete with a full-face visor.
Following the game, Oilers captain Connor McDavid was asked about what happened to Hyman. As per Jamie Umbach of NHL.com, McDavid said:
"It's never easy to see. I see a teammate in a pretty gruesome situation there. It's great to see him back out there, though. He gutted it out. That was pretty nasty though."
Unsurprisingly, Hyman was given the next day off, although he did also have to see a specialist due to breaking is nose. (He would go on to say it was the sixth time he had broken his nose.) However, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said he fortunately didn't suffer a concussion, and wasn't expected to miss any playing time.
When Hyman turned up for practice on Thursday, there was no hiding what had happened to him, with a bandaged nose and two black eyes. And yet, he acted as if it was no big deal.
Disaster averted
Make no mistake about it though, Hyman admitted that he could have quite easily been out for a couple of months if, for example, the puck had broken his jaw. Instead, it was a case of 'just' having to have his nose re-broken by the specialist.
We say 'just', because of the almost matter-of-fact way that Hyman described the nose reset. He said it was like a bag of chips breaking and he just dealt with it.
As if the Oilers and their fans didn't already have immense respect for Hyman, this has now only grown. As per Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic, Knoblauch said:
"Something I’ve learned from Zach is he’s very resilient. He plays through a lot. You have to have a lot of courage and bravery to play the way he does, being around the net as much as he does."
You only have to listen to Hyman himself, to get an idea of just how tough and unaffected he really is. Also as per Nugent-Bowman, he said:
"This one was a little bit worse than previous ones, probably. But it’s a broken nose. I feel good."
You can bet Hyman's teammates, coaches and fans also feel good, just knowing that they have him on this Oilers team. Yes he won't get close to last season's career-high 54 goals, but he's recovered from his slow start to the 2024-25 campaign and not even a broken nose is going to stop him now.