Edmonton Oilers drag Panthers back to Alberta in cup final
Connor McDavid had two goals and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers stayed alive with a 5-3 road win over the Florida Panthers Tuesday night.
The Panthers lead the Stanley Cup Final 3-2.
For the second game in a row, the Oilers opened the scoring while shorthanded.
Conner Brown stole the puck at the Oilers blue line and took off on a breakaway against Sergei Bobrovsky. Brown beat Bobrovsky with a move to the backhand to make it 1-0 Edmonton 5:30 into the game.
The Oilers scored on the power play 1:58 into the second when defender Evan Bouchard’s point shot went in off Zach Hyman’s leg. It was the scorer’s 15th goal since the start of the series.
Three minutes later, McDavid sifted a bad angle shot through Bobrovsky to make it 3-0 Oilers. The Panthers replies less than two minutes later. After the Oilers failed to clear the puck, Matthew Tkachuk picked the top corner to pull his team within two.
McDavid provided some brilliance on another power play later in the second. He sped into the Panthers zone, split a pair of defenders, and sent a pass in front to Corey Perry, who deposited his first of the post-season. Evan Rodrigues scored off a scramble just 14 seconds later.
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It was McDavid’s 40th point since the start of the playoffs. Only Wayne Gretzky (three times) and Mario Lemieux have reached this plateau in a single playoff run.
“He’s been driving the bus since he has got here,” Hyman said when asked about McDavid’s game. “You don’t want to put any extra pressure but its what he does. He elevates his game at the most opportune times for us.”
It was 4-2 Oilers after two periods.
Four minutes into the third, Oliver Ekman-Larsson stepped into a shot to narrow the Edmonton edge to 4-3.
The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky for an extra attacker with 2:31 on the clock. Tkachuk dove to keep the puck from sliding into the vacated cage, but he swept the puck to McDavid, who popped in an empty netter to put it away with 18.7 seconds left.
Skinner finished with 30 saves in front of the net for the Alberta club, whose last conquest of the Stanley Cup dates back to 1990. Bouchard had three assists.
The Oilers are also seeking to become the first Canadian team to lift the silver bowl since the Montreal Canadiens did in 1993.
“We have been counted out a lot through the playoffs, regular season, whatever but it doesn’t phase the group,” said Head Coach Kris Knoblauch. “We are still here playing hockey in June.”
Game 6 is Friday at Rogers Place (The 630 CHED Face-off Show begins at 4 p.m., game starts at 6 p.m.).
— With files from The Canadian Press
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