The Oilers led 3-0 and 4-1 in the second period, but had to fend off a furious comeback attempt by the Panthers, who scored early in the third. Stuart Skinner had 29 saves for the Zeiters. Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 shots for Florida.
“It was a total effort from everybody,” McDavid said. “Special teams was good. Penalty killing, nothing more. They were great. [Connor Brown] He scored a big goal there to calm us down. The power play continued and Stu was excellent. Five-for-five, that’s enough. It was a total team effort from top to bottom.
The Panthers started Game 5 as the team looking to claim their first Stanley Cup on home ice, but Skinner’s performance continued in Game 4, starting with Aaron Ekblad’s steal and Florida’s high pressure.
A penalty on Brett Cook at just 4:47 felt like the release the home crowd had been waiting for. Instead, midway through the power play, Brown stole the puck at the blue line and beat Bobrovsky with a patient backhander. It was the second game in a row that Edmonton scored a shorthanded goal.
“Difference tonight, special teams,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “I think we were 3-3 on special teams goals tonight. That definitely helps our team.”
After Brown scored, the Panthers added one more shot on goal with 14:30 left. And Nico Mikola was whistled for interference at the horn, giving the Oilers a power play to start the second period.
Edmonton’s venerable power play had yet to click in the final games — its only power play came in a five-for-three win in Game 4 — and for 1 minute, 58 seconds, it appeared the trend would continue. But Evan Bouchard (three assists) deflected a shot past Zach Hyman and past Bobrovsky with the man advantage with two seconds left to give the Oilers a 2-0 lead.
McDavid made it 3-0 with a bank shot that took out Bobrovsky three minutes later, leaving the Panthers reeling — and likely on another 2,500-mile flight to Alberta.
After Evan Rodriguez stole the puck on the board and fed it to Tkachuk for a steam-low lead in the zone, Matthew Tkachuk got Florida on the board 1:53 later on a quick layup against Skinner.
But Kyle Okposo’s hooking penalty at 10:02 put Edmonton’s confidence back into action, and McDavid did his off-the-cuff thing, turning the Panthers inside-out as he drove to the net and fed Corey Perry. Tapping at 11:54.
Rodriguez scored his fourth goal of the series 14 seconds later, but Florida couldn’t get any closer in 40 minutes despite a strong push in the final half.
That push carried into the third and the Panthers needed just 4:04 to score. In his 14th career NHL debut on this stage, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson found the back of the net off a feed from Tkachuk to ignite the crowd’s hopes.
Brown said the Oilers are ready for the challenge.
“We are comfortable with a one-goal game,” he said. “… I think he showed us composure. They scored, they blew us away in the first five minutes they were there. We stayed organized. … I think we are showing our maturity. As the season wears on, we show our character. Our confidence and trust is growing.”
The crowd’s despondency began as the period dragged on without a tie, and tensions mounted when Dmitriy Kulikov was penalized for tripping, giving the Oilers back on the power play with 7:32 left.
Florida killed that penalty, but had to do so, shaving two minutes off the clock. The Panthers pulled Bobrovsky for an extra attacker and with just 2:30 left, McDavid hit an empty netter with 17.3 seconds left to do what he wanted: send the series back to Alberta. The goal gave McDavid his 42nd point of the postseason — and his second consecutive four-point game.
“I love playing in the game,” McDavid said. “I love playing with this team. It’s been a fun ride and we’re glad it goes one more day. But that’s all we got here: another day, another flight. We’ll be ready to go to Edmonton on Friday.”
The odds are stacked against the Oilers as they return home for Game 6 and with growing confidence. But the odds were stacked against Edmonton early in the season, with a slow start leading to a coaching change and a need to improve throughout the season just to make the playoffs.
Brown has said repeatedly throughout the series that he believes the Oilers are in good shape with their backs against the wall. Their situation is still dangerous, but it doesn’t bother them.
“I know a lot of guys counted us out. We’ve been counted on a lot in the playoffs, the regular season, whatever,” Knoblauch said. “It’s not going to deter the team in there. They have a lot of confidence — a lot of faith — and they’re enjoying every extra day, because we’ve been counted out so long and we’re still playing hockey here in June. We’re going back to Edmonton for Game 6. There’s a lot to smile about.