When you’ve done a great job to contain one of Edmonton’s lethal scorers in Leon Draisaitl, you have to make sure that you don’t leave his partner-in-crime wide open in various opportunities. That was the story of Game 5 as Connor McDavid shined bright on the big stage as he lifted the Oilers to come up with a 5-3 win and send the series back home for a Game 6.

Just like his heroics in Game 4, McDavid pulled off another four-point performance off two goals and two assists to lead the Oilers in extending their season to one more game in the Stanley Cup Final. Fans at the Amerant Bank Arena were silenced for most of the game as Edmonton jumped to a 3-0 lead before a late comeback attempt was foiled by the Oilers to seal the deal.

Instead of winning the chip at home, the Panthers will now have to deal with the Oilers on the road – who has been a spectacular team to watch whenever they play in front of their fans. Now the series shifts back to Edmonton’s favor as they now aim to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the Stanley Cup Final.

A Legendary Performance from McDavid

Connor McDavid now has logged a total of 42 points off 34 assists and eight goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs – which ranks fourth in all-time records. He also joins legendary icons such as Wayne Gretzky (three times) and Mario Lemieux to have at least 40 points in a single playoff run.

The Oilers captain assisted on two of the three other goals scored by the team. Despite only having 24 shots on goal and Draisaitl being cold for most of the game, McDavid embraced the moment as his time to shine bright and deliver a promising win for the Oilers now more than ever.

McDavid has been a special performer on the big stage, and we all know that he is not afraid of the big moments. This is why he was so calm despite being down 3-1 to begin Game 5, and his immense dedication to winning has rewarded Edmonton with massive chances time after time.

Staving Off a Late Comeback

The Oilers jumped to a 3-0 lead behind goals from Connor Brown (1st period, 5:30), Zach Hyman (2nd period, 1:58), and McDavid (2nd period, 5:00). The Panthers would then go on to show signs of life in their games after a promising spark led by Matthew Tkachuk, who scored in the 2nd period at the 6:53 mark to cut it to 3-1.

Corey Perry would then go on to come up with a promising run to score a wrist shot and put Edmonton back up by three, but Evan Rodrigues made sure to come up with his own answer just 14 seconds after the latter scored for the opposing team, making it 4-2 heading into the final frame.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson would then go on to cut the lead to 4-3 following a snap shot with 4:04 on the clock. After 15 minutes of back-and-forth action with no teams scoring, McDavid came up with the final play and went on to drill a clutch wrist shot at 19:41 to call it a game and put the Oilers ahead at 5-3. That sealed the deal and has secured Edmonton’s hopes of a Game 6, where they will have the crowd behind them as they now aim to force a Game 7 in the Stanley Cup Final.