The Edmonton Oilers received their NHL marching orders from their captain.
“We’ve got to go to Florida and do a job and drag them back to Alberta,” Oilers star Connor McDavid said on an X (Twitter) post before Tuesday night’s Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena.
Message received and behind McDavid becoming the NHL’s first skater to collect consecutive four-point efforts, the Oilers upended the Florida Panthers’ championship plans – again – with a 5-3 victory.
Game 6 will be Friday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The Oilers, who trail the Panthers 3-2 in the series, became the fourth team to force a Game 6 after dropping the first three Cup outings. Only one team, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, rallied from a 3-0 series deficit to capture the league title.
McDavid collected two goals and two assists and defenseman Evan Bouchard compiled three assists to pace the Oilers, who are 4-0 in elimination games this postseason.
(Twitter) users replied to the Panthers coming home and failing for a second time to capture their first league title …
Game 5.
It’s #LetsGoOilers at #TimeToHunt.
Because it’s for the Cup. pic.twitter.com/tPiPoQewrR
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 19, 2024
Eager to rebound from the Game 4 rout, the Panthers’ players appeared prepared to hit the ice for the Game 5 challenge …
It's time. pic.twitter.com/kTIilX2sul
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) June 19, 2024
Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner looked loose during the pre-game skate. In his three previous elimination-game starts this spring, Skinner posted a 3-0 mark with a 1.33 goals-against average and .938 save percentage …
Warmup stutine ☑️ pic.twitter.com/oJgjxU6ZUe
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) June 18, 2024
Here’s an interesting pre-game statistic. Will right-wing fans of the Panthers now find some reason to cry conspiracy? …
Ref Records: The Florida Panthers have gone 14-0-1 in their last 15 games under ref Dan O'Rourke, including 5-0 in the playoffs. The Oilers are 0-5 this postseason when O'Rourke is working. Tonight's crew:https://t.co/jgR2AcIQgy #EDM #FLA #EDMvsFLA #LetsGoOilers #TimeToHunt pic.twitter.com/3sPui4AiPp
— Scouting The Refs (@ScoutingTheRefs) June 18, 2024
Young (and old) fans eagerly anticipated the Oilers extending the series to Game 6 …
Cheering Section Activated #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/K8hRmqlKBd
— Lori Bauer🇨🇦🏒🥅🔥 (@AlbertaGirl34) June 19, 2024
Skinner executed a key early save on Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad’s open snapshot 1 minute 32 seconds into the first period …
WHAT A SAVE! 😳😳😳#LetsGoOilers #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/unVs8vn7y5
— Nitrobetting.eu Sportsbook (@BtcNitrobetting) June 19, 2024
Taking advantage of a careless turnover, Connor Brown created a breakaway and connected shorthanded at 5:30 of the first period. It was his first Stanley Cup goal and the second straight game the Oilers opened with marker on the penalty kill. Brown was credited with an assist on the Game 4 opening tally …
CONNOR BROWN GETS THE OILERS ON THE BOARD
pic.twitter.com/a8yAev7sY2— SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) June 19, 2024
The Oilers’ special teams helped extend the lead to 2-0 at 1:58 of the second period as forward Zach Hyman deflected in a Bouchard slap shot on the power play. Bouchard joined McDavid and Leon Draisaitl with at least 30 postseason points, the most by any active defenseman during a single postseason …
ANOTHER ONE FOR THE OILERS 👀 pic.twitter.com/w3UyuNf68p
— Spittin' Chiclets (@spittinchiclets) June 19, 2024
McDavid collected his 40th point of the playoffs with a second-period tally, giving the Oiles a 3-0 advantage. McDavid joined Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux as the lone NHL skaters to reach that postseason milestone …
MCDAVID SCORES! IT’S 3-0! pic.twitter.com/QjjRMCFIWe
— Mr Matthew CFB (@MrMatthew_CFB) June 19, 2024
Up by three, some Oilers’ fans were starting to feel the emotion of remaining alive in the final …
Looks like oilers fans are having a blastpic.twitter.com/4dpmbFpgwK
— India Sports Central (@IndSportCentral) June 19, 2024
Down by three, some Panthers’ fans were overwhelmed by the moment …
"And they just can't bear to watch here in Sunrise…" Let's go #Oilers ! pic.twitter.com/R2tiweVqvF
— AdmiralOdawg (@AdmiralOdawg) June 19, 2024
Until Panthers’ Matthew Tkachuk stepped up, that is …
Florida isn't done!!
Matthew Tkachuk gets the Panthers on the board 😤
📺: ABC/ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/w9lFr0zgn4
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 19, 2024
Benefitting from McDavid overcoming a double-team to earn a primary assist, firebrand Corey Perry collected his 54th career postseason goal, restoring the Oilers’ three-goal advantage. The power-play tally was his first postseason marker in 21 outings …
CONNOR MCDAVID IS POETRY IN MOTION 😮💨
(via @NHL) pic.twitter.com/RO5YnQK329
— ESPN (@espn) June 19, 2024
With his third helper Tuesday, Bouchard was credited with a league-record 26th postseason assist, most in league history …
Most assists by a defenseman in a single postseason:
26 — Evan Bouchard (2023-24)
25 — Paul Coffey (1984-85)
24 — Al MacInnis (1988-89)
23 — Brian Leetch (1993-94)
21 — Cale Makar (2021-22) pic.twitter.com/MA7p3RPccZ— Hockey Reference (@hockey_ref) June 19, 2024
The Oilers’ three-goal lead evaporated 14 seconds later when Panthers forward Evan Rodrigues battled in the crease area and overcame a scrum to score at 12:08 of the second period …
Evan Rodrigues a HUGE response goal for #TimeToHunt cutting the Oilers lead to 2. 👀 pic.twitter.com/xE5b3gBsJW
— SasquatchNHL (@SasquatchNHL) June 19, 2024
Four minutes four seconds into the third period, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who moved up and was paired with Brandon Montour for much of the final 40 minutes, connected to cut the Oilers’ lead to 4-3 …
OLIVER. EKMAN. LARSSON. pic.twitter.com/Ndo1cHr21F
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) June 19, 2024
McDavid clinched the win with an empty-netter after supreme hustle by Tkachuk …
This is the coolest #NHL #hockey play I’ve ever seen!@FloridaPanthers @EdmontonOilers @StanleyCup @NHL pic.twitter.com/eHML4bT1oa
— Terrence Spencer, MD (@TS2010Spencer) June 19, 2024
Final score: Oilers 5, Panthers 3 …
WE'RE HEADED BACK TO EDMONTON 🤯
THE OILERS HAVE FORCED A GAME 6! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/C5sOzGY4mg
— NHL (@NHL) June 19, 2024
Here is a composite of Oilers nation entering Game 6 …
SEE YOU FRIDAY EDMONTON!!!! #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/uYfPKeiQuA
— kirsten 🩵 (@lilkd4wg) June 19, 2024
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