After a heroic comeback win in Game 4 to even the series, the Stanley Cup Final became a best-of-three series, with the winner of Game 5 needing only one more win to claim the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, it was the Panthers who seized the opportunity with a near-perfect road game to close out a 5-2 win and put themselves one win away from repeating as champions.

OILERS COME OUT FLAT AGAIN

I can’t even begin to describe how disappointing it was to watch the Oilers come out as flat as they did for the third consecutive game. After an emotional comeback win in Game 4, you’d think Edmonton would have better recognized the need for a quick start, but that is not what we got. And for the third consecutive game, the Panthers tagged the Oilers with two+ goals and put our boys in a hole that makes life way more difficult than it needed to be. Needless to say, it was beyond disappointing to be down two goals again so quickly into a key game. But unlike what we saw on Thursday, there was no pushback until it was much too late.

In the biggest moments, we need everyone in orange and blue rowing in the same direction, but we didn’t get that again until it was ‘pull the goalie time’ and the game was all but over. I know there were missed calls that were annoyingly ignored, but that doesn’t change that the Panthers outworked, out-hustled, and out-battled the Oilers at every turn. As good as the Panthers were, the scales balanced out with how poorly the Oilers executed. I mean, how else would you describe a first period when you’re outscored 2-0, outshot 9-3, and looked generally overwhelmed? How do you let that happen again? How do you not do more to dig the f**ck in?

THE POWER PLAY NEEDED TO BE A FACTOR

On a night when the Panthers were as tight defensively as a team can be, the Oilers needed their power play to be a difference maker but it didn’t end up even getting close to a job well done. Despite having three opportunities with the man advantage, Edmonton struggled to produce shots on goal, let alone score a goal. That’s a rough result for a power play unit that has consistently scored goals in eight straight games coming into Saturday night, especially when they’ve already had four games to come up with a few Plan Bs and Cs.

With three penalties in the opening half of the game, Florida gave Edmonton enough looks to make a difference in the end result, and that’s what makes it so frustrating that they barely got a sniff. Outside of the one post that Connor McDavid hit, there weren’t many shots, nor was there much chaos going on in front of Sergei Bobrovsky. Instead of putting pucks on net, the Oilers continued to look for the perfect seam pass, when sometimes it can be even more effective to bang in a greasy rebound off the pads. And with the Panthers’ PK as aggressive as it is, you’d think there would be some odd-man opportunities in the key if only they started putting more pucks through.

DO OR DIE

For the first time in this playoff run, the Edmonton Oilers will face an elimination game, and it comes once again when the stakes are at their highest. For the second year in a row, the Panthers have the chance to eliminate the Oilers on home ice and win the Stanley Cup. As horrific as that is to write, that’s where we’re at after the Oilers fell flat on their face in front of a raucous home crowd to kick off this best-of-three for the win. Instead of hitting the ice with purpose and pace, they looked like they were playing not to lose. Being scared of making mistakes and playing scared is not going to work against a team as good as the Panthers.

If the Oilers have any chance of dragging the series back to ‘Berta for a Game 7 on home ice, they’ll need to come up with 10x better than what they offered in Game 5. They looked timid and scared to make mistakes, instead of trying to make plays and create their own luck. If the Panthers are going to clog up the middle of the ice, then it’s up to Edmonton to get bodies to the front of the net and create a little chaos. Why not lean into what the Panthers have turned into a strength? If they’re not going to give the Oilers much time, then why look for the perfect shot? Corey Perry’s third-period goal was a fine example of what can happen when you put pucks on net with bodies in Bobrovsky’s eyes, and they’ll need a lot more like it if we’re going to see our beloved Oilers back at Rogers Place again.

OTHER THINGS WORTH MENTIONING…