POST-GAME: Hyman having hot start to season

SEATTLE, WA – His name is Zach and he's been picking up the slack.

On an Edmonton Oilers team that features the reigning Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy winner, 64-goal scorer Connor McDavid, as well as three-time 50-goal scorer Leon Draisaitl, another candidate has emerged as the club's top offensive producer through 13 games, as Zach Hyman has found the back of the net seven times.

The 31-year-old has really hit his goal-scoring stride since signing with the Oilers ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, as he lit the lamp 27 times that year, then broke that personal-best mark again with 36 last season.

Hyman's second-career hat trick – and first of the natural variety – during Saturday's 4-1 Edmonton win in Seattle puts him on pace for 44 goals this season, as he's stepped up with some important offence while other top guns Draisaitl (five goals), McDavid (two), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (three) and Evander Kane (three) look to find their scoring touch as well.

"I have nothing but huge respect for Zach Hyman and the game that he brings to the table every night," Oilers Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said following Hyman's first-star performance on Saturday.

"He was bound and determined to make sure we were coming out with a lead in that first period and I think all of his goals were within about a four or five-foot radius. So that speaks to the game he was willing to play tonight. As a person, (he's an) A1 person, a fantastic leader. Part of that kind of secondary leadership group who I thought all gave us something really good here tonight."

The early-season success couldn't be happening to a better guy, said goaltender Stuart Skinner, who turned aside 17 of the 18 Kraken shots he faced on Saturday to back-stop the victory.

"Zach is a great human being," Skinner said. "Anybody you ask will say that. He's for the team. He's selfless. He's just a good guy outside of the rink and he's a hard worker every single day. He comes to work, he does his job, and he goes back home and takes care of his family. He's a wonderful man, a very good leader and somebody that we rely on, and he relies on all of us."

Hyman's first goal in Seattle featured a bit more finesse as he flicked a backhand into the top corner after a feed from Kane on a partial two-on-one rush, but his second and third markers were hard-working clean-up jobs on loose pucks around the crease.

"You're taught at a young age, if you want to score, go to the net," he said. "And, I think, especially when things aren't as smooth as we'd like them to be – we're a pretty offensive team – and when you're not getting the offence, you've got to go back to what works. And what's easy for everybody, I think, is just scoring around the net."

Saturday's win snapped a four-game losing skid for the Oil and upped their early-season record to 3-9-1. They'll look to keep clawing their way back up the standings when they return home to face the New York Islanders on Monday at Rogers Place.

"Today was a good day to get back in the win column and kind of just breathe," Hyman said. "And now you enjoy the night and you take it and you get ready for Monday night... You want to be feeling good, and this was a good one to put us in the right direction."