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Zach Hyman makes his thoughts on Evan Bouchard's slapshot to the face extremely clear
Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman made his thoughts clear on the deflected Evan Bouchard slapshot that caught him in the face during Edmonton's 6-5 loss to the Florida Panthers on Monday night.
Hyman took the puck to the nose in the second period. He was in noticeable pain and quickly went to the bench, with blood seen on his face. However, Hyman returned to the game in the third period wearing a full-face shield.
At Thursday's practice, Hyman provided more details on the injury. He said that he broke his nose but was unsure if it was the puck or Bouchard's stick that made contact. Hyman made it clear Bouchard was not at fault, noting it was just an unlucky bounce.
“Don't exactly take the left, no, but if he's not his fault, hit the guys stick just a freak kind of bounce. Obviously, it was like, really close. I couldn't even I tried to turn with it, and that's why it only caught the nose.” Zach Hyman said.
Hyman explained he tried to turn away but the puck caught his nose because of how close the shot was. Hyman considered himself fortunate it did not do more damage.
He also described the painful aftermath, saying:
"Yeah. I mean, this one was, like I said, I broke up a bunch of times. This one was a little worse process. Puck hit the nose, shifted, I think it reset, and then just dealing with bleeding, it wouldn't stop bleeding."
Hyman added that the bleeding into the nose made it difficult to breathe properly. The next day he had his nose fixed at practice and said it was doing much better, though still swollen.
In 26 games this season, the veteran forward has 10 goals and 15 points.
Oilers HC Kris Knoblauch's comments about Zach Hyman
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch praised Zach Hyman's resilience and willingness to play through injury and discomfort.
“You have to have a lot of courage and bravery to play the way he does, being around the net as much as he is. And you’ve got Evan Bouchard taking slap shots from back there, and he’s never shy and reluctant to go there." Knoblauch said on Thursday.
Knoblauch also pointed out that even when banged up many times last season, Zach Hyman always wanted to stay in the lineup. On Thursday, despite wearing a splint on his nose affecting his vision after taking a stick to the face, Hyman made it clear he wanted to play against the Bruins.
"Yeah, we can’t pull him out of the lineup. Not that we’d want to, but he definitely wants to play.” Knoblauch added.
Next up for the Oilers is a home game Thursday night against the Boston Bruins.
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