The Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars in Game 4 to take a 3-1 series lead. They are now just one game away from their second consecutive Western Conference championship. But Game 4 was not all good news for the Oilers, as Zach Hyman left the game with an injury. Before the game, he spoke about playing physically and how important that was to beating the Stars. Now, his comments in The Athletic need to serve as the guidebook for the team moving forward.

“When I’m playing with Connor (McDavid), I’m probably playing against the top D pairing every night,” Hyman told reporters, per Daniel Nugent-Bowman. “Those guys are pretty skilled. If you can get in on the forecheck and be physical against them, maybe you don’t see it in the first couple games, maybe you don’t see it in (Game) 3 or 4 — but maybe you do. That’s the mindset. It’s not about getting as many hits as I can. It’s just about being physical. Our whole group has really bought into that in many different ways.”

The Oilers will all need to play physically to free up Connor McDavid if Hyman is out for Game 5. That has been the key to Hyman's success in Edmonton after signing a massive free agency contract to join them. He scored 50 goals in 2023-24 and was key to their playoff success last year.

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McDavid had two more assists on Tuesday, pushing his total to 19, the most in the playoffs. The Oilers have gotten great depth scoring and dominated teams physically to make it this far. But they know the job is not done after their Stanley Cup Final loss to the Panthers last year. Florida is also one win away from joining them in the Cup Final for the second consecutive year.

Oilers coach Kris Knoblach did not have an update on Hyman after Game 4.