Ice Hockey - NHL

Edmonton shortens the Stanley Cup Final again!

Connor McDavid (Wed.)(Bild: AP/Associated Press)

The decision in the Stanley Cup Final has been postponed again!

The Edmonton Oilers won Game 5 of the final series 5-3 at the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night (local time), cutting Edmonton's lead in the North American Hockey League (NHL) final to 2-3 and giving them a chance to tie the series at home at Rogers Place on Friday night before the showdown in Florida three days later.

"I know a lot of people have written us off!"
"I know a lot of people have written us off," Edmonton head coach Kris Knoblauch said after the game. The team has a strong belief and has been written off several times this season "and now we're still here playing field hockey in June. We're going back to Edmonton and there's a lot to smile about."

Player of the Game was Connor McDavid, who was directly involved in four Oilers goals. First, Connor Brown put the Canadian team ahead in the first period while shorthanded (6th). In the middle period, top scorer Zach Hyman (22nd) with his 15th playoff goal and McDavid (25th) extended the lead.

Connor McDavid (Wed.)(Bild: AP/Associated Press)

Matthew Tkachuk (27) reduced the deficit for Florida, who had a great chance to win the first title in franchise history. But Corey Perry (32) restored the three-goal gap after a great assist from McDavid. Evan Rodrigues scored for the Panthers just 14 seconds later.

"It was a great performance from everyone!"
In the final period, the Oilers defended their lead after Oilver Ekman-Larsson's tying goal (45') and had several chances to tie the game in the final minute after Florida took goalie Sergei Bobrowski off the ice. McDavid then did just that with his second goal of the evening. "It was a great performance by everyone," said McDavid, "the guys really hung in there, we had our backs against the wall and we found a way."

The Canadian now has 42 goals in this year's playoffs, only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux have ever scored more.