BLOG: Heavy artillery

EDMONTON, AB - For years the question in Edmonton has been: 'Who is going to play with Connor and Leon?'
It looks like the Oilers have finally found the answer.
Zach Hyman and Evander Kane have been game-changers for the Blue & Orange, making major contributions in both the regular season and the post-season with 65 goals to their name (33 for Hyman, 32 for Kane) thus far.
What differentiates the pair from previous Dynamic Duo linemates is how they are able to score those goals. Hyman and Kane have heaps of skill, but they've paired it with some sandpaper and aren't forced to rely on finesse when the game isn't tilted in their favour. Their unique skill sets have helped round out the Oilers lineup with a combustible mixture of skill, speed, and grit.
"I think those are the players that at times in the past we were missing a little bit," Leon Draisaitl said about Hyman and Kane. "Established players, players that know how to play in the playoffs and have been there."
"They're both kind of the playoff-type players," Draisaitl added. "They thrive in these conditions. Both of them have had great seasons so far, they've been great in the playoffs for us. They're two key guys for us."

Kane and Hyman both came into the post-season with prior playoff experience -- Kane suited up for 29 playoff games with the San Jose Sharks, while Hyman appeared in 32 games over his six seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs. What the pair hadn't done yet is produce at the elite level that they have in this year's run. Kane currently leads the NHL in playoff goals with 10, while Hyman is tied for seventh with six pucks of his own past opponent goaltenders.
"Scoring in the playoffs isn't really about finesse or skill. That's why guys like that thrive in these situations," Draisaitl said. "They know how to score ugly goals, garbage goals, whatever you want to call it. They go to the hard areas where it hurts sometimes and not everybody wants to go. Obviously, they have a knack for putting the puck in the net."
The willingness to go to the hard areas, but with a top-six-worthy skillset has allowed the two players to shine. Kane has used his elite shot to beat goaltenders to great success in these playoffs, but like last night in Game 3, he can light the lamp in close proximity to the blue paint with all three of his hat-trick goals coming from within a few feet of Jacob Markstrom.

Hyman has also been a force to reckon with so far in the Battle of Alberta. The 29-year-old has scored in every game of the series by showing off his ability to protect the puck, wheel away from defenders and use his deft touch in front of the Flames net.
The finest moment of the series for Hyman came in Game 2, when he beat out Selke Trophy nominee Elias Lindholm in a foot race and chipped a crossbar-down shot over Markstrom's glove on a shorthanded breakaway for what would be the eventual game-winning goal in Calgary.

The closest the Oilers had come to replicating the success of Hyman and Kane was in the year of their last playoff run in 2016-17, when a still semi fleet-of-foot Milan Lucic and the heavy frame of Pat Maroon helped bolster a younger Oilers top six. The duo combined for 50 goals in the regular season, but only five in the Oilers 13-game playoff run.
Unfortunately for the Oilers, Lucic's game never ended up hitting the same heights it did in that playoff season, with the burly forward never scoring more than 10 goals in an NHL regular season since that run. Maroon was shipped to the New Jersey Devils at the Trade Deadline, eventually winning a hat-trick of Stanley Cups with St. Louis and Tampa Bay.
Where Kane and Hyman have the advantage over the Oilers previous big-bodied forwards is the extra gear needed to go up and down the ice with two of the best players on the planet. The '21-22 Oilers feature speed throughout the lineup, but there is no shortage of juice in the current top six.
"I think we obviously have a good skating group, we're a fast team, we play at a high pace when we're playing our game," Draisaitl said. "Those two guys, they're bigger guys but they can move and they can skate, they're big for our team. They push the pace, they hold on to pucks and they make it hard for the other team."

The pair has been an absolute home run for Oilers GM & Pre. of Hockey Ops Ken Holland. When Hyman signed a seven-year deal with the Oilers in free agency and when the club reached out to sign Kane back in January, it was for moments like these.
For Kane, it's been exactly what he envisioned when he made the decision to join the Blue & Orange.
"I'm just happy to be part of this group," Kane said. "It's fun when you win, and you want that feeling to last as long as you can. I'm just trying to do my part to bring what I can to this team and help us be successful."