McDavid’s greatness keeps Oilers comeback bid alive – Trentonian

Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid (97) celebrates his goal during the third period of Game 5 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Finals against the Florida Panthers, Tuesday, June 18, 2024, in Sunrise, Florida. The Oilers defeated the Panthers 5-3. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

SUNRISE, Fla. – There was a lot of talk about faith during this year’s Stanley Cup Final by the Edmonton Oilers.

After all, it’s the one thing they really had to hold on to after losing the first three games of the series to the Florida Panthers, who were seemingly well on their way to being swept.

A win in Game 4 made that belief tangible. In Game 5, Connor McDavid used his own brand of “incredible” to reinforce the belief that a comeback is possible; he scored two goals and added two assists to become the first player ever to record back-to-back four-plus point nights in the Cup Final in the Oilers’ 5-3 win over the Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday night.

The list of firsts or records set by the 27-year-old superstar on Tuesday night is as long as you want. Only Wayne Gretzky has multiple four-point nights in a Cup final. With his 42 points, McDavid joins only Gretzky and Mario Lemieux in producing more than 40 points in a single postseason. Only two other players, Hockey Hall of Famers Bernie “Boom Boom” Geoffrion and Stan Mikita, have achieved two three-point periods in the Cup Final, and McDavid became the first to do so in a single series, as well as the first to do so. do it in 50 years.

“Special teams, special plays, special players” is a hugely popular phrase these days.

It doesn’t get more special than McDavid giving his usual sincere, yet milquetoast answers during his post-game press conference on Tuesday night, largely leaving his teammates behind to remind anyone who might be confused as to why this series is still going on. .

Why faith is two victories away from reality.

“He’s the best player in the world,” said Oilers forward Corey Perry, who capped a highlight reel with a pass from McDavid to give Edmonton a 4-1 lead at 11:54 of the second period.

“He knows when to turn it on, and he can. He had a great game. He sets a good example for us… he puts this team on his back. When we stand against the wall, he puts us on his back and plays. You see why he is the best player.”

Defender Mattias Ekholm echoed similar sentiments.

“What haven’t I seen of him,” he said. “He just puts us on his back and the man is the best in the world. You just can’t say anything else about him. What impresses me most about him is that the bigger the moment, the bigger the performance he delivers. We are on the brink of elimination and he scores four points two games in a row. That’s just him in a nutshell. He just wants to be the man. He is the man, and for me he is the best in the world.”

McDavid had no intention of getting involved in his own extraordinary – and deserved – hype after the game. He actually never does that.

The 2024 Stanley Cup Final is now a series, with a big capital “S,” thanks to the three-time Hart Trophy winner and potential Conn Smythe winner as playoff MVP, whether he can bring his team all the way back getting the edge or not.

No matter what he says.

“It was a total effort from everyone,” he said. “Special teams were obviously great; punishment murder, I mean there’s really nothing else to say. (Connor Brown) scores a huge goal there (opening the game, shorthanded) to calm us down, and the power play got going, and (goalkeeper Stuart Skinner) was great. 5 against 5, we did just enough. So it was a total team effort, from top to bottom.”

Certainly. Not wrong. But make no mistake, it was No. 97 who was in the lead again.

“The biggest thing when a team has the pressure and is aggressive is you want to play it safe a lot of times,” Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch said. “You don’t want to give up the puck. But you can only do that to a limited extent. You have to be able to transport the puck into the offensive zone, and I don’t think anyone is better at that than Connor. He relieved a lot of pressure, and that gave us some breathing room out there.