Oilers keep Panthers at bay in Game 5 and stay in Cup final again

It was Edmonton’s ninth consecutive goal in the series.

“When I get to that side of the net, I often went to the short side,” McDavid said. “I’d say most people know that’s where I look. (Bobrovsky) was standing. (Hyman) is always near the net, so I tried to shoot him there and he found his way in.”

Tkachuk broke the Oilers’ scoring streak with his first goal of the series, reducing the score to 3-1 at 6:53.

But McDavid set up Perry’s power-play goal that tied the score at 4-1 at 11:54. McDavid ran from end to end, circling Eetu Luostarinen at the blue line and between Niko Mikkola and Dmitry Kulikov above the left marker before making a pass to Perry in the slot, who slotted the ball home.

“I saw him get through the other players and then pass the ball to me,” Perry said. “I didn’t even yell. He just saw me going toward the goal. That’s the type of player he is.”

McDavid stated that his style of play was based on studying the Panthers and how they defended against his attacks.

“I’m in that position a lot of times looking for pucks, breaking out and getting the ball into the zone, so I pay a lot of attention to how certain guys play,” he said. “Mikkola has really great range and I just tried to work my way through that and (Perry) did a great job of getting the ball out the back door.”

But 14 seconds later, it was Rodrigues who scored after a rebound from Montour’s shot, reducing the score to 4-2 at 12:08.

Florida continued its comeback with Ekman-Larsson’s goal at 4:04 of the third period to make it 4-3. Tkachuk found Ekman-Larsson from below the goal line, who was running through the left circle, and his one-timer went over Skinner’s glove.

“That gave us a chance to get back into the game,” said Ekman-Larsson. “We kept pushing, kept coming back and created a chance for ourselves.”

With 2:35 minutes left, the Panthers pulled Bobrovsky for the extra player, but McDavid scored into the empty net with 19 seconds left to make the final score 5:3.

“I know a lot of people have written us off,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We’ve been written off a lot in the playoffs, regular season, etc. But that doesn’t faze the group there. They have a lot of confidence and just enjoy every extra day because we were written off a long time ago and we’re still playing hockey in June. We’re going back to Edmonton for Game 6 and there’s a lot to smile about.”

REMARKS: McDavid has scored 42 points (eight goals, 34 assists) in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the fourth-most in a single postseason ever. He is the third player in history to score at least 40 points in a single postseason, joining Wayne Gretzky (three times) and Mario Lemieux (once). … Edmonton’s 13 goals before going into the game (eight in Game 4, five in Game 5) are the most by a team since the 19-game Toronto Maple Leafs of 1942. That Toronto team, which beat the Detroit Red Wings in seven games, is the only team to win the Stanley Cup after trailing 3-0 in the final.