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.
Connor Brown stole the puck at the Oilers’ blue line and took off on a breakaway against Panthers goaltender 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 playoffs.
Three minutes later, McDavid sifted a bad angle shot through Bobrovsky to make it 3-0 Oilers. The Panthers replied less than two minutes later. After the Oilers failed to clear the puck, Panthers forward 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. Florida’s Evan Rodrigues scored off a scramble just 14 seconds later.
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 it’s 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, Florida defenceman 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.
Goaltender Stuart Skinner finished with 30 saves in front of the net for the Oilers, 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 faze the group,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game.
“We are still here playing hockey in June.”
Game 6 is Friday at Rogers Place. You can listen to the game live on 630 CHED, beginning with The Faceoff Show at 4 p.m. The actual game starts at 6 p.m.
— With files from The Canadian Press