BLOG: Hyman "fine to play" & Arvidsson an option for Thursday vs. Bruins

EDMONTON, AB – If Zach Hyman taking a deflected Evan Bouchard shot to the face on Monday night wasn't enough of a near-miss, the Oilers escaped extra harm on Tuesday when Connor McDavid and Darnell Nurse didn’t see either one coming and collided in front of the net during practice.

Head Coach Kris Knoblauch stopped the skate to allow them to collect themselves from the crash, and after the unfortunate wrong turn from both McDavid and Nurse resulted in the Oilers captain taking the brunt of the collision, he's expected to be just fine after pulling himself up and skating off the ice.

“You don't want to see any of that, and sometimes it happens,” Knoblauch said. “And you have to be careful on the drills that you do so you don't set up a situation where players get hurt. But also, if you never have any contact, you don't have game-like practices and situations, and that one was absolutely a freak accident. It wasn't like two guys chasing on the wall or the boards – it was just one guy turned left and the other one turned right."

Coming off Monday’s 6-5 loss to the Panthers, Tuesday’s practice was high-paced and competitive ahead of a scheduled day off for the team on Wednesday before they begin a stretch of three games in four days on Thursday against the Boston Bruins at Rogers Place.

Zach Hyman wasn’t at practice on Tuesday because of an appointment for the broken nose he suffered from Evan Bouchard’s deflected slap shot during the second period vs. Florida. The winger came back in the final frame with a full bubble and promptly roofed a backhand for his second goal of the game, and the issue isn't expected to put his availability for Thursday's tilt with Boston into question.

Filling in for Hyman and taking line rushes in top-six white during Tuesday's skate was forward Viktor Arvidsson, who’s now strung together a few good practices with the Oilers to give him a chance to play vs. the Bruins for the first time in 15 games.

Arvidsson looked "impressive" at practice on Tuesday, said Knoblauch, who added he'll have to be eased back in over Edmonton's busy upcoming stretch following his month-long absence since Nov. 12 vs. the Islanders.

"Let's just say he is ready to play on Thursday. We're heading into three games in four, so for him to come back after missing over a month and play all three games while playing the 16-to-18 minutes a night, that's probably a tall order for him," Knoblauch said.

"And having only one practice, he's been on the ice plenty of times, but today, he looked fantastic. I think he might have been the best player on the ice for us. I thought I was that impressed with him. But that's one thing about practice and games, so I think it's ease him in there."