The Oilers Drag the Panthers Back to Edmonton for Game 6
Photo Credit: CTV News Edmonton
After the Oilers demolished the Panthers in game 4 in an 8-1 victory to save them from elimination, Oilers captain Connor McDavid had a statement to make in his post-game presser heading into game 5: “We got to go to Florida and do a job and drag them back to Alberta.” McDavid yet again led his team to victory in a score of 5-3. After a 4-point performance in game 4, he had another 4-point night in game 5 making him the second player in history with multiple 4-point games in the Stanley Cup Final as Wayne Gretzky did it in 1985.
To start the game, the Panthers went straight to the power play after the new face in the lineup, Ryan Lomberg, took a high stick from Oilers defenseman Brett Kulak. The Panther's power play has struggled to put anything together, and for the Oilers penalty kill unit, it has been superb. In the last 15 games, the Oilers have killed 43/44 penalties and converted three shorthanded goals. The Oilers' PK unit came up clutch again and set the tone early in this contest as Connor Brown broke free and slid one past Sergei Bobrovsky.
The dominance would continue into the second period as the Panthers failed to respond, going down 1-0 going into the second with a chance to win the Stanley Cup on home ice. The Oilers power play came into game 5 going 1/16. At some point, the Oilers' power play was going to have to take over a game to come back from an 0-3 series deficit. It certainly did as the winding seconds of the second powerplay chance for the Oilers came down. Evan Bouchard had a booming slap shot come off his stick, and it got redirected by Zach Hyman for the Oilers to take a 2-0 lead. This would be Hyman's first goal in the finals and his playoff-leading 15th goal. Minutes later, the Oilers would take a 3-0 lead in the game after McDavid sneaked one past Bobrovsky. Bobrovsky has now had back-to-back bad games where he has struggled to make a big save when his team needs it. Since the start of the third period in game 3, Bobrovsky has had a .756 save percentage and a 6.43 goals-against average.
Approaching the midway mark of the second period, the Panthers found their game, hamming the Oilers into their defensive zone and finally converting on a scoring chance as Matthew Tkachuk found the back of the net for the first time in the finals. The momentum would be short-lived as the Oilers were nearing the end of their powerplay, and McDavid, at the end of his shift, was able to fend off four Panther defenders to find Corey Perry for one of the nicest assists in these playoffs.
The momentum swings would continue to stray back and forth as just 14 seconds later, Evan Rodrigues was able to bat the puck into the back of the net in a crazy scrum. This would be Rodrigues's third goal of the finals. The second period would end with the Oilers leading 4-2.
In the third, the Panthers gave the Oilers everything they had left in the tank, outshooting the Oilers 10 to 4 and controlling the pace of play. Tkachuk, who played his best game in the finals thus far, was able to find defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the slot to slap one past Stuart Skinner and make it a one-goal game with over 15 minutes to play.
The Panthers would continue to fight their absolute hearts out to find a way to get the game-tying goal, but they could not get one past Stuart Skinner, who has done a complete 360 in his game since game 3 of the series. He has been at his best when the Oilers need him to be.
With the final second winding down, Tkachuk made an unbelievable save to keep the puck from going into the empty net, but McDavid would seal the deal seconds later to cap off his four-point night and playoff-leading 42 points. McDavid is now chasing history, as he already grabbed the all-time leading assist leader in a single postseason and is now chasing all-time point leader Wayne Gretzky at 47 points. In a team sport, it's rare to put the team on your back, but single-handedly, McDavid is making things interesting in these finals.
Here we are going back to Edmonton for game 6 on Saturday night. Rogers Place will be rocking as the hometown fans try to rally their team to force a game 7 back in Florida on Monday.