In what has already gone down as one of, if not the best, free agent signings in franchise history, Zach Hyman is continuing to raise the bar on his performance. In Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, Hyman scored his 16th goal of the playoffs. That number puts him past Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, both with 15, as the active player with the most goals in a single playoff season.
Those are two of the all-time greats, and Hyman has just put his name in the same conversation as them with his legendary performance in these playoffs.
In an even more historical scope, it has only happened 16 times in NHL history that a player has had 16 goals in a single postseason. Only nine players all-time have surpassed this mark. And, Hyman’s 16 goals is the most of any player since Joe Sakic had 18 back in 1995–96.
Additionally, the goal that Hyman scored today was his 70th of the 2023–24 season (regular season and playoffs combined), tying him with his former teammate Auston Matthews for the season lead.
Hyman playoff review
How did he get to this point? Well, an extremely hot start in the opening round against the Los Angeles Kings gave him a massive head start chasing down these milestones. Six goals in the first three games, including a hat trick in the first game of the series, and a total of seven goals in Round 1. His goal in Game 5, in which Edmonton eliminated the Kings, ended up being the game winner.
Hyman slowed down through the second round against the Vancouver Canucks, only scoring four goals, with a two-goal game in Round 2. He had the game winner in the crucial sixth game that kept the Oilers alive after going down 3–2 against the Canucks.
He kept a similar pace for the Conference Final against the Dallas Stars, with three goals in six games. No multi-goal games but once again he had the game winning goal in the series clinching Game 6 to send the Oilers to the Cup Final.
This gave Hyman 14 goals heading into the final round. Five back of the all time lead, but as we now see, only one behind the leading active players. Although he was held off the scoresheet in the first four games of the Cup Final versus the Florida Panthers, only recording two assists, a goal in each of Games 5 and 6 have given him the current total of 16.
Not only does he have an incredibly high total of goals, the timeliness of his scoring is coming up clutch for the Oilers.
With one more game left, will we see yet another clutch goal from Zach “Hymoney” Hyman?
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
