EDMONTON -- Zach Hyman knows where the goals are and has never shied away from venturing into the tough areas in front of an opponent's net.
Persistence is starting to pay off for the Edmonton Oilers forward, as the puck is now bouncing his way after a slow start to the season. It's a trend Hyman hopes continues against his former team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, at Rogers Place on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CBC, SNE, SNO, SNP).
"I'm just finishing more," Hyman said. "I still think I can finish even more, I get a lot of chances every game. The chances I do get and the areas I have to go are high-danger areas. When you get looks from there, it's a higher percentage to score from there than it is further out."
Hyman scored a career-high 54 goals last season playing predominately on the top line alongside center Connor McDavid. Hyman took his offensive game to another level after signing as a free agent with the Oilers on July 28, 2021, having played his first six seasons with the Maple Leafs.
A Toronto native, Hyman is currently in the fourth of a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with a $5.5 million average annual salary. In each of his first three seasons with the Oilers, Hyman exceeded his single-season point totals in Toronto.
"I think of his year, and he's been pretty consistent with his play," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. "His goal scoring has certainly not been consistent the way it's gone, and probably his best stretch of hockey was his first eight games where he probably should have multiple goals."
Hyman's start was in line with the rest of the Oilers, still reeling from a 2-1 loss to the Floria Panthers in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season. He didn't score in his first 10 games and had three goals in his first 20.
"Usually when goal scorers are scoring, they're feeling well, they're confident about putting the puck in the net," Knoblauch said. "Obviously, there is some luck where the opposition is making some poor choices, bad coverage or their goalie is letting in some bad goals. But overall, [Hyman] has been a pretty consistent player for us."
Hyman's slow start may have cost him a spot on the Team Canada roster for the 4 Nations Face-Off from Feb. 12-20 at Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston. He was one of four 50-goal scorers in the NHL last season, and the other three -- Auston Matthews of the Maple Leafs (69), Sam Reinhart of the Panthers (57), and Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche (51) -- are playing in the best-on-best tournament.
"He always gets his looks, sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't," Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl said. "I think hopefully they'll start going in for him a little bit more. I think they have been lately, but hopefully he can keep that up. You want the looks, you want the opportunities, that's the most important thing. I think he's getting plenty, and I'm convinced they'll start going in for him."
Since the 4 Nations rosters were announced on Dec. 4, Hyman has 14 goals (21 points) in 25 games. He missed five games with an undisclosed injury after colliding with Ottawa Senators defenseman Nick Jensen in a 5-2 win on Nov. 19.
"He always is kind of around the net, he's always getting looks," McDavid said. "It's the nature of the game, sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn't, you get a bounce here and a bounce there. He's doing a lot of really good things."