Thursday night’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets marked the 19th time this season that the Edmonton Oilers laced up their skates without Zach Hyman.

That streak is set to come to an end on Saturday as the rugged winger is set to make his season debut against the Carolina Hurricanes, and it couldn’t come at a better time.

It’s thanks to some solid work from the Oilers, capping off a three-game in four-night stretch Thursday, falling 5-4 to the Blue Jackets in a game that got better the longer it went on — at least for the Oilers. The Oilers started sluggishly in the second half of a back-to-back that saw them beat the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime, as they watched the Blue Jackets’ third line score the first two goals of the game.

The Oilers didn’t sulk into the second, though, as Matt Savoie scored his second of the year, deflecting an Evan Bouchard point shot home. Leon Draisaitl scored his first of two not long after, tying the game up. Edmonton’s inability to negate Columbus’ drive to the dirty areas continued to rear it’s ugly head, as Denton Mateychuk, Adam Fantilli and Mathieu Oliver would all score as the Oilers stood by idle.

“I thought we were a little too soft around the net,” said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch. “Whether they were deflecting pucks or getting inside of us, (there were) multiple goals like that… (We have to) make it harder for them to get inside position on us and too often, they were left alone in front of the net with Picks by himself.”

Down 5-2, the Oilers put their head down and got to work. Vasily Podkolzin would grab a rebound left by a Jack Roslovic shot to score just under eight minutes into the third period, as Draisaitl’s second three and a half minutes later would get the Oilers within one. That’s when the flurry picked up, as the Oilers threw everything but the kitchen sink at Jet Greaves.

“The momentum we had in the third period, we felt that was maybe the best we played,” said Knoblauch.

Now, the sights are set on Saturday, and Hyman’s return to the lineup.

He’ll provide an undeniable morale boost to the team right off the hop, but given that a pre-season and 19 regular season games have passed him by, he won’t be an immediate fix for what has ailed the Oilers early this season.

The next question that arises is where he plays in the lineup. Knoblauch loaded up the top line with Connor McDavid, Draisaitl and Savoie for much of Thursday night, and they looked tremendous, outscoring the Blue Jackets 3-1 and outshooting them 7-4, while controlling 65.5 percent of the shot attempt share. The bench was shortened significantly throughout the night, with Noah Philp, Mattias Janmark, Curtis Lazar, Trent Frederic and David Tomasek all playing under 11 minutes at five-on-five.

Against a deep Hurricanes team, the Oilers will surely be better of by keeping McDavid and Draisaitl on separate lines. And with Andrew Mangiapane’s struggles continuing on, would it make sense for the Oilers captain to centre Savoie and Hyman on the top line, allowing Draisaitl, Roslovic and Podkolzin to stick as the second line?

Time will tell what the coaching staff has in mind, but however it shakes out, Hyman will be a welcome addition.

Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the Daily Faceoff DFS Hockey Report. He can be followed on X at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.