Oilers bullish heading into tilt with Lightning

Edmonton Oilers winger Zach Hyman waits for a faceoff during NHL action in Vancouver on Nov. 9, 2024. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Zach Hyman is ready for the task.

The 32-year-old winger, who has scored three goals in the two games since returning to the Edmonton Oilers lineup from injury last week, told media after Tuesday's morning skate playing the "very high skilled" Tampa Bay Lightning will be demanding. In an enjoyable way.

"Any time you play against a team that's got a ton of skill and players that are playing really well, it's always a fun challenge," said Hyman, who will skate alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on the Oilers' top forward unit Tuesday night (7 p.m.) against Tampa, three years removed from their back-to-back Stanley Cup victories.

"If we're playing against that No. 1 line, that'll be a great challenge for our line and for our team as a group."

'That' No. 1 Lightning line is made up of centre Brayden Point and wingers Nikita Kucherov and Jake Guentzel.

Point has scored six goals, six assists and 12 points in his last five games. His 18 goals heading into Tuesday action is second in the National Hockey League after the 19 scored by both the Oilers' Leon Draisaitl and the Florida Panthers' Sam Reinhart.

Kucherov, a two-time scoring champ and former league MVP, is Tampa's leading points-getter with 13 goals and 24 assists for 37 points in 23 games played, a total good for seventh in the NHL. He returned from injury in Tampa's last game and scored a goal and two assists in Sunday's win over the Vancouver Canucks.

Guentzel, a big NHL free-agent summertime score, has 25 points – 12 of them goals – in 25 games.

Then again, that top Tampa line will have its hands full, too, facing Hyman, McDavid and Nugent-Hopkins, as heavyweight a scoring line as there is in the NHL.

McDavid is McDavid, a five-time Art Ross Trophy winner as the NHL's top scorer and three-time MVP. He is tied with Kucherov with the same number of goals, assists and points in 24 games played.

And while Hyman and Nugent-Hopkins aren't among the upper echelon of NHL scoring leaders, they have been in recent seasons: Hyman (22GP, 6G, 5A) scored 54 goals and 77 points last season – two seasons ago, he collected 36 goals and 83 points – while Nugent-Hopkins (27GP, 4G, 10A) eclipsed the 100-point plateau two years ago (82GP, 37G, 67A).

Not to mention the Oilers have found harmony heading into the Tuesday tilt at Rogers Place, having won five of their last six games. Hyman says the roster has gelled.

"Every year is different. This year, we've made some changes, obviously. We have a bunch of new faces, we're coming off a long year. It just takes a little time to get everything in order," Hyman said Tuesday. "We're finding our groove ... As a team, we're just growing collectively and finding out what works for us."

Consistency comes with finding that rhythm to "play well" over an entire game, he said.

"I thought that last game (4-2 win over St. Louis), we kind of got away from it a little bit in the third (period)," Hyman said.

"We had a three-goal lead and let the other team come back. When we're up, continuing to play well defensively, getting great goaltending and obviously finishing – the ability to score (and) put a team away when you're playing well – is really important. We're starting to make better on our chances as a group."

Special-team difference

Third-line Oilers centre Adam Henrique, this season a mainstay on the team's resurgent penalty-kill – 29th overall in the NHL at 72.3 per cent, but the NHL's best over the last month (89.3 per cent) – said that players honing the "small details (and) the work within that" when down a man has paid off for the team recently.

"We've had some pairs going together for a while now, which can help you have that chemistry on the penalty kill, and talking and being familiar with what we're thinking in each situation, really, because that's key for us," Henrique said.

"When we're on the same page and really moving or you know where the other guy is, even if you're not able to see them. Establishing that pressure, holding our line, just the details of how we want to kill have been a lot better as of late, that is due to being familiar with each other in our pairs."

On the power play, the Oilers have improved as the season has progressed. While it sits 17th overall among the 32 NHL teams with a 20.6-per-cent, it's seventh (27.3 per cent) in the last month. That said, the Lightning's power play is the NHL's best (37.5 per cent) over that same time period.

Projected Oilers lineup

Forward

Defence

Goal