McDavid, Oilers send Stanley Cup final back to Edmonton after Game 5 victory over Panthers
CBC
The Oilers are dragging the Panthers back to Alberta.
Connor McDavid is the overwhelming reason why.
The superstar captain had two goals and two assists as Edmonton held on for a 5-3 victory Tuesday to cut Florida's lead in the Stanley Cup final to 3-2.
Connor Brown, Zach Hyman and Corey Perry also scored for the Oilers, who have won two straight — including an 8-1 whitewash on home ice in Game 4 — facing elimination after dropping the best-of-seven series' first three contests.
Stuart Skinner made 30 saves. Evan Bouchard had three assists.
Matthew Tkachuk and Evan Rodrigues, with a goal and an assist each, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson replied for Florida. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots for the Panthers, a group now feeling the squeeze following consecutive losses with the Cup in the building and a chance to clinch the franchise's first-ever title.
Game 6 in a championship round with the furthest distance between cities in NHL history at more than 4,000 kilometres goes Friday in Edmonton. Game 7, if necessary, would be Monday back in South Florida.
"I'm not pumping tires. I'm not rubbing backs. I don't think we need that at all," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "Everybody feels probably exactly the way I do right now. I'm not feeling deflated. Neither's the hockey team. They're not feeling deflated. Little grumpy."
Maybe a lot grumpy.
"We're going to turn the page," forward Evan Rodrigues said. "We're going to learn from this one."
McDavid's 42 points this spring already represents the fourth-best individual playoff performance in league history behind Wayne Gretzky (47 points, 1984-85), Mario Lemieux (44 points, 1990-91) and Gretzky (43 points, 1987-88).
"Anytime you're in the same realm as those two, it's always a good thing," McDavid said.
The 27-year-old's eight points in Cup elimination games — he put up four Saturday — also set the record for one title series.
The Oilers are looking to capture their first Cup in 34 years — and the first for a Canadian team since the Montreal Canadiens won in 1993.
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