Zach Hyman misses Oilers practice after taking 'Bouch bomb' to face ...

Predictably Zach Hyman wasn’t at practice Tuesday after that puck smashed into his face Monday night—a Bouch bomb from teammate Evan Bouchard that ripped off Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen first—and Connor McDavid didn’t finish the skate after he had a Richter-scale collision with Darnell Nurse in front of the net.

Article content

Article content

All seems reasonably well with both shaken parties, though.

Article content

No alarm bells going off at Rogers Place.

Same with winger Viktor Arvidsson, who hasn’t played in five weeks (suspected groin or core-muscle problem), but was skating so well at practice that coach Kris Knoblauch gave him a rave review saying he’ll play, if not Thursday when the Boston Bruins are in town, then quite possibly against San Jose Saturday afternoon.

So, some light at the end of a long tunnel for Arvidsson, hurt against the New York Islanders on Nov. 11. He remains on IR for now after missing 15 straight games, on the heels of a slow start (five points) in his first 16, mostly with Leon Draisaitl.

Let’s start with Hyman’s situation first. Anything new, after he took the puck in the kisser, coming back for the third period wearing a full face shield?

“No, just that he doesn’t look any better,” said Knoblauch.

“He had an appointment (medical) today but there’s no concussion, fortunately, just a broken nose. No other symptoms. Should be fine to play (Bruins),” said Knoblauch, who watched Hyman score two goals on Sergei Bobrovsky in the first two periods and missed the net on another great try as he looked for the hat-trick.

Article content

Article content

Maybe if the Oilers had built on their 4-2 lead and were up 5-2 heading into the third, instead of it being 4-3, Hyman might not have returned for the third against the Panthers. But, like most hockey players, playing hurt? Badge of honour.

Hyman is no different.

“Obviously if it was a concussion, absolutely, he wasn’t returning. If it was an injury that could get worse, then yeah, that’s different,” said Knoblauch.

Tough on Hyman’s good looks. But there’s nothing wrong with his hands.

Hyman has seven goals in his last six games and 10 now in the wake of the Canadian management team not taking McDavid’s winger for the 4 Nations Face-Off roster off his slow start. But they may be having second thoughts now.

McDavid and Nurse collide

Knoblauch had a good look at it, and breathed easy with no apparent injury to Nurse or McDavid, even as 97 left the ice to get checked out.

“Yeah, you hold your breath. You don’t want to see it (collisions with teammates) but sometimes it happens. You have to be careful with the drills you run that you aren’t setting up situations where players could get hurt,” said Knoblauch. “But if you aren’t having any contact, you’re not having game-like practices.”

Article content

“This was just a freak accident. It wasn’t two guys chasing (puck) into the boards. It was one guy turning left, the other one turning right and they ran into each other. I think everyone’s OK,” said Knoblauch.

McDavid had three assists against the Panthers to give him 44 points. He’s now tied for sixth (Martin Necas) in league scoring with Nate MacKinnon first (50). Leon Drasaitl, Kirill Kaprizov and Mikko Rantanen (47) are tied for second and Nikita Kucherov (46) is fifth overall.

Nurse was plus-1 against Florida, meanwhile, continuing his wonderful defensive play over the last seven weeks. He’s now plus-11 on the season, with only Draisaitl (plus-16) better.

Arvidsson looks ready to roll

Arvidsson may not get his RW spot back alongside Draisaitl to start with Kasperi Kapanen locked in there now and getting his third goal since his waiver claim a month ago but he will likely start somewhere farther down the line-up.

Either he or Connor Brown could be the 3RW now with Mattias Janmark perhaps sliding back from there to play centre on the fourth line, which could push out Derek Ryan, for now

Article content

“Yes, Viktor could possibly play Thursday. But this was his first real practice with the team. He’s had a few of those morning (game-day) skates and he’s been skating on his own,” said Knoblauch.

“Obviously the tempo and the body contact of this (Tuesday) practice is different. We’ll see how he’s feeling later. If not Thursday, then the anticipation is he’ll be playing on the weekend (Sharks Saturday, Ottawa here Sunday),” he said.

The theory is players shouldn’t lose their position in a line rotation when hurt. But don’t expect Arvidsson, signed to a two-year, $4 million AAV, this summer to be on No. 29’s wing, to get back with Draisaitl right away.

“He’s missed over a month, a long time. If he plays Thursday, we’re heading into a three games in four days. To come back after missing that long and to think he could play 16 to 18 minutes a night, that’s a tall order for him. Today he looked fantastic and may have been the best player on the ice. But there’s a difference between practice and games. He’s had one real practice (Tuesday, with Wednesday a scheduled day off),” said Knoblauch.

Article content

“I think we’ll ease him in (playing). I don’t have a limit on his ice time. I won’t say if it’s 10 or 12 or 14 minutes. We have to tread lightly.”

And Jannmark at centre after some work there last season.

“Yes, absolutely I can see that. When or where, not sure. But it’s something we’ve thrown around (coaches),” said Knoblauch. “Janmark is probably the next guy to try in that position.”

This ‘n thatVasily Podkolzin got a major Monday for fighting A.J. Greer after Greer drilled him in the numbers into the boards, but it wasn’t much of a scrap in terms of length. No winner. The two wingers have fought before. “Yeah, my first (NHL) fight,” said Podkolzin. How did Podolzkin do? “I lost,” said Podkolzin, who now has three fighting majors, his second one a resounding W against ultra-tough D-man Jeremy Lauzon in a game against Nashville…Derek Ryan, who did a fine job in the first PK forward pairing with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins last season, has only played 10:50 shorthanded this season with Knoblauch trotting out Podkolzin, Arvidsson (before his injury) and Kapanen in a third for forward pairing.“ We’ve got six guys we’re using more (than Ryan) right now. Kapanen has come into the system with his skating, a longer reach, a little bit quicker. Derek does kill a little bit. We’re saving him more on face-off situations. Rico and Nugent-Hopkins have been the first pair and they’re two centermen (for draws). But if tired, Derek can come out. We relied on him heavily in the playoffs last year, not so much this year,” said Knoblauch.

Article content

Recommended from Editorial

'A lot of hard work': Edmonton Oilers' Connor Brown notches 100th NHL goal

Edmonton Oilers need to find some more D without sacrificing O

Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here.

You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.

Article content