Edmonton Oilers forward Zach Hyman said he avoided the worst of taking an Evan Bouchard shot to the face in Monday’s game against the Florida Panthers.

Head coach Kris Knoblauch said after Tuesday’s practice that Hyman suffered a broken nose but he’s expected to play on Thursday when the Oilers host the Boston Bruins. Hyman confirmed as such when he met with the media on Thursday with some bandages on his nose.

While Hyman admitted that this broken nose felt worse than others he experienced in the past, he feels good and fortunate that the injury didn’t end up worsening.

“Puck hit the nose, it shifted, I had to get it reset, and then just dealing with bleeding,” he said. It wouldn’t stop bleeding, so got gauze up there. Hardest part is you can’t breathe and you’re just dealing with blood going into your nose. And if it can’t get out your nose, it’s going into your mouth. So just dealt with that and then got it fixed up the next day. Missed practice, but feeling good.”

He added that the Oilers medical staff had to get the nose rebroken for him to get repairs, which he described the sound as ‘a bag of chips.’ While his nose was in rough shape, Hyman joked that his teammates said he still looks good even with all the patchwork done to it.

It sure sounded like it was a painful experience, but of course, he was able to finish the game with a bubble shield because he is a hockey player after all. Given his time having to wear a cage while at the University of Michigan, he is fine with having to wear a bubble for the time being while his nose recovers.

“Like, all things, if you’re allowed to play, you can play with the bubble,” he said. “Obviously, I’m not allowed to get hurt or shouldn’t be getting my nose hit right now. So letting it heal, get the bubble on. I wore a cage in college, so a little removed from that, but yea.”

The 2024-25 season has been a challenging one for Hyman not just from an injury standpoint but also with his production taking a step back. He has been in and out of the lineup at various times this season while amassing only 15 points (10 goals and five assists) in 26 games.

In fairness, Hyman has started to turn a corner offensively with seven goals so far this month including scoring in each of his last three games. Monday’s game against the Panthers saw him score twice, which was already his second multi-goal outing of December. While it remains to be seen if he can get back to the heights he experienced last season he can certainly get his season back on track.

He will look to continue his strong showing in Thursday’s game against the Bruins.