Game five was arguably the best of the Edmonton Oilers – Florida Panthers Stanley Cup Final series.
Conner McDavid illustrated to the world why he would eventually sit on the NHL throne one day.
The Panthers gave up two power-play goals and a short-handed score, got into a 3-0 hole before trying to rally, and wound up falling 5-3 to the Oilers in Game 5 of the title series on Tuesday night. It was the second consecutive time Florida was short in a chance to win the Cup after an 8-1 embarrassment in Edmonton over the weekend.
Oilers are the first team in NHL history to open scoring with short-handed goals in consecutive Cup Final games.
The Oilers are dragging the Panthers back to Alberta for game six on Friday.
“It took everything, special teams were great, and goaltending was amazing,” Oilers forward McDavid said. “Guys dug deep. It is not an easy building to win in. Backs were against the wall, and we found a way.”
McDavid had two goals and two assists to become the first player in NHL history to have back-to-back four-point games in the Stanley Cup Final, and Evan Bouchard added three assists for Edmonton. Connor Brown, Zach Hyman, and Corey Perry also had goals for the Oilers, while Stuart Skinner stopped 29 shots.
“We believe, we believe in each other, we believe we can get through it,” McDavid added. “We believe we can get through anything; it was an impressive show from everybody.”
The four points gave McDavid 42 in these playoffs, the fourth-most in a single postseason in NHL history. The only players ahead of him are the ones everyone would expect: Wayne Gretzky had 47 points in 1985, Mario Lemieux had 44 in 1991, and Gretzky had 43 in 1988.
“It is just one game; we get to play another game and go on another flight,” McDavid added. “We talked about dragging them back to Alberta. They are coming to Alberta; we will play them there and see what happens.”
McDavid has 23 career points when facing elimination (most in Oilers history).
Oilers are the fourth team to force game six in the Stanley Cup Final when trailing series 3-0 and are the first team to win a game five on the road after trailing the series 3-0.
“We have been counted out a lot, through the playoffs, through the regular season, but it does not phase the group; they have a lot of belief and enjoying every extra game,” Oiler head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We were counted out a long time ago; we are still here playing hockey in June, have the opportunity to go back to Edmonton in game 6, and have a lot to smile about.”
Oilers are 4-0 when facing elimination this postseason (most such wins in a postseason in franchise history).
The Panthers remain in the driver’s seat; they must make history in game six to avoid going home for game seven. No team has ever won the Stanley Cup against the Oilers in Edmonton.
“It is not about chances, I don’t mind our game,” Panthers head coach Paul Maurice said. “We should be intently interested in the next one and see how it is played.”
Evan Rodrigues and Matthew Tkachuk each scored a goal and an assist for Florida, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored for the Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots for Florida, which will see its 30-years-and-counting wait for the franchise’s first Stanley Cup title last at least three more days.
To touch the Stanley Cup, you have to earn it. It was the toughest ticket in the history of the Panthers. Another sellout crowd came, some of them paying more than $1,000 apiece for tickets on the secondary market — the crowd pushing Florida’s total attendance for the season over 1 million for the first time. It was the first time in Panthers history that they played a home game with a chance to win the Cup.
The Panthers are three and four this postseason in series-clinching games and have outscored 15-4 in the last seven periods.
Wait to hand the Conn Smythe Trophy out. We are running out of superlatives for McDavid. He has been able to raise the level of his teammates. They have matched his intensity. When it mattered most, he put the Oilers on his back. He played the game of his life. He did everything on the ice: the minutes played, the back check, the forecheck, the power play, and the penalty kills. He has everyone in Edmonton and his team believing they can win the Cup. We witness greatness in game five; everything you would want from a leader he delivered.
Everything was going well for the Panthers until the Cup arrived in the building. The Panthers should not change anything in their play, but the issue is going back to Edmonton. The Panthers need to match the speed of the Oilers, who have the intensity and adrenaline. They are not slowing down; the Panthers need to match that. Rogers Place is going to be louder than it was in game four.
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