Johnston: Connor McDavid reaches the moment in the biggest game of his career

SUNRISE, Fla. – Connor McDavid’s moment that stopped the Stanley Cup Final in its tracks – the signature moment, perhaps, to this point in his sublime career – came in the blink of an eye in the playoffs.

It was Darnell Nurse, not Corey Perry, who had to jump the boards in the second period Tuesday night with an Edmonton Oilers power play coming to an end in the second period.

But as McDavid picked up speed through the neutral zone, Nurse shouted, “You go! You’re going!” to his teammate on the other side of the bench and Perry instead found himself on the ice and in prime position to finish off McDavid’s insane 1v3 rush against the Florida Panthers.

The nurse didn’t get an assist or a point on the play, but he earned an “A” for awareness.

“I’m not going to beat an attacker there,” he explained The Athletics. “So I figured we might as well get one.”

Good thing.

That was the game-winning goal in the 5-3 win that swept the Panthers back to Alberta and put an exclamation point on a playoff campaign that will end in the coming days with McDavid’s name all over the NHL guidebook and record book.

He’s been looking to get the Oilers back into this series in full force by becoming the first player in the 108-year history of the Stanley Cup Final to deliver consecutive four-point games – a mind-boggling statistic that becomes even more impressive when you think about it happened after his team in an 0-3 hole fell against Florida.

McDavid now has 42 points heading into these playoffs, the fourth-best total ever and still within reach of Wayne Gretzky’s record of 47 from 1985. His 11 points and counting in the Cup Final are just two behind Gretzky’s record from 1988 .

It shouldn’t surprise anyone to learn that McDavid has already essentially secured the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP, even if the Oilers’ season ends with a loss in Game 6 on Friday night or a potential Game 7 next week .

He’s roaming the field.

But more than an impressive set of statistics or even a prestigious individual honor, it’s the game he played against Perry that will likely stand the test of time. McDavid had already provided an assist and a goal in the second period of Game 5 when he swung wide past Panthers forward Eetu Luostarinen, crossed center ice and fired straight through the outstretched sticks of defensemen Dmitry Kulikov and Niko Mikkola for a perfect to deliver a pass. -crease pass to his teammate for a tap-in goal.

SCOREY PERRY ON THE POWER GAME 🚨 pic.twitter.com/zoDq6KpRSK

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) June 19, 2024

“I saw him go through three guys and then pass it to me,” Perry said. “I mean, I didn’t even scream about it. He just saw me go to the net.”

McDavid handled the entire sequence in a way no one else ever could. His brain was the only thing moving faster than his feet.

“I’m in that position a lot and going back for pucks a lot, I’m on the breakout and I’m bringing it into the zone,” McDavid said. “So it’s something I look at a lot – how certain guys play things. Mikkola has a really big reach and I tried to work my way through that, and Pers did a great job of doing it behind the door.

For fans of a certain vintage, this was akin to Mario Lemieux going “one against the world” as he stormed through the Minnesota North Stars to score in Game 2 of the 1991 Stanley Cup Final.

The very possibility of moments like that is part of what made this championship series so compelling from the start because of what McDavid means to the sport and the nine long years it took him to get to this stage.

In a league with 32 teams and a hard salary cap, there is simply no guarantee he will ever come back. The stakes are enormous. And yet the best of the best always seem to find a way to meet the moment and seize the opportunity.

“We keep saying he’s the best player in the game, or the best player in the world, and when he does that, it’s so clear the difference between him and the very best players,” said ESPN analyst Ray Ferraro, who the broadcast worked. from between the benches at ice level. “You can’t go anywhere and he just makes something great happen. The part for Perry, you can’t go anywhere. Only he found that one bright spot.

‘But who else thinks so? No one.”

Ferraro has played more than 1,200 NHL games and has probably broadcast at least that many since hanging up his skates. The best comparison he can make to the heights McDavid is currently reaching is the way Michael Jordan took the NBA by storm in the 1980s and 1990s.

“He physically does things that other people can’t do,” Ferraro said. ‘You can’t stand up to him. But you can’t make a backup. What are you doing now?”

That’s a question the Panthers will have to ponder as they make the six-hour flight back north to Edmonton, with the pressure mounting around them.

The Oilers are trying to accomplish the near impossible by becoming only the second team in NHL history to erase an 0-3 deficit and lift the Stanley Cup, but thanks to McDavid, everything is starting to feel very possible.

“What I haven’t seen from him is probably the (better) question,” Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “That man is the best in the world. You just can’t say anything else about him. What impresses me most about him is the bigger the moment, the bigger the performance he delivers.

“We’re on the brink of elimination and he scores four points two nights in a row. That’s just him in a nutshell. He just wants to be the man. He is the man.”

No. 97 is a must-see and he has turned what is left of this Stanley Cup Final into a must-watch.

This is history playing out in real time.

(Photo: Andrew Bershaw/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)