Zach Hyman turned a routine penalty sequence into the night’s most replayed moment, and he did it with a grin.
In Edmonton’s 6-5 shootout win over Carolina, the Oilers forward found himself at the center of a heated exchange with Hurricanes defenseman Sean Walker. Hyman was already going down when Walker shoved him from behind with a cross-check, and the Oilers winger went to the ice appearing to sell the contact. After the whistle, as Walker headed to the box, Hyman looked up, smiled, and winked.
That tiny gesture set off the internet.
Hurricanes fans were furious, convinced Hyman had embellished the play and then rubbed it in with the wink. Others saw it differently, arguing he simply made sure the officials noticed the penalty - and, as the source noted, it was a penalty. One fan went as far as calling Hyman the “funniest man alive.”
Walker clearly didn’t see the humor. He appeared to believe he had been taken for a ride, and his frustration carried over after the whistle.
But replays showed the cross-check itself was real, and it came at a costly moment for Carolina. The penalty came in a tied game, with the Hurricanes’ penalty kill already having allowed three power-play goals.
The officials had been tracking the back-and-forth between the two players throughout the shift, and Walker seemed to think a prior foul had gone unnoticed. His response to Hyman only made things worse, especially against an Edmonton power play that has been rolling since Hyman returned.
Since his return, that unit has climbed to 31%.
The exchange was just one slice of a game that had the feel of something bigger than a late-October matchup. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl each finished with five points, and Edmonton rallied after trailing by two late in the second period. Hyman did not score, though he did have a goal wiped out because of a high stick, and he still played a role in the comeback as the Oilers moved to 8-1-1 on the season.
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