Instant Reaction +21.0: Oilers on verge of elimination after 5-2 loss at home in Game 5

In the final two minutes of the first period, the Panthers extended their lead to two. The puck went over to Matthew Tkachuk on the weak side on the rush. Jake Walman blocked the initial shot, but Sam Bennett picked up the loose puck in the slot and zipped it past Calvin Pickard.

Another faceoff, another Panthers’ goal. About five minutes into the final frame, it was an offensive zone draw that went awry as Jake Walman attempted to make a D-to-D pass to Evan Bouchard, not putting it in a great spot. Once again, Marchand took advantage of it, made a move around Walman, and slid it between Pickard’s pads for the 3-0 lead.

The Oilers showed some life shortly after. Two minutes after the 3-0 goal, the Oilers had some sustained zone time. Bouchard made a nice pass to McDavid, who had already beaten his defender, and he made a nice move to get Bobrovsky to bite, sliding it in for his first goal of the Stanley Cup Final.

Just a minute later, the Oilers lost a 50/50 puck battle and the puck found its way to Sam Reinhart at the top of the faceoff dot, beating Pickard blocker side for the 4-1 lead. This was a backbreaker.

With the net empty, the Oilers got one back as Corey Perry fired a puck from the blue line with Bobrovsky screened. Sadly, the Panthers scored an empty net goal with 79 seconds left to ice the game.

Takeaways…

It’s do-or-die time for the Oilers, as they head back to Sunrise for Game 6. They’ve been here before, going down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Final last season and being able to force a Game 7. Moreover, they were down 3-2 in the series to the Vancouver Canucks, winning the last two games to move on to the next round.

That said, this was an embarrassing performance from them. It took the Oilers two periods to wake up, and that just isn’t good enough, especially in front of their home crowd. This was the third consecutive game where the Oilers were down by at least two after 20 minutes.

One area of concern for the Oilers in this Stanley Cup Final and the postseason as a whole has been their power play. Down by one, the Oilers failed to score on a man-advantage, and the Panthers scored their second goal shortly after. In the second, the Oilers received two power plays, but were unable to score on either of them. Simply put, their power play needs to be better in Game 6.

I’ve harped on the referees throughout the series because they haven’t been great, but they did a good job on Saturday. The penalties that needed to be called were, and they didn’t miss many either, except for Sam Bennett interfering with Troy Stecher in the first period.

Mattias Ekholm didn’t have a great game. On the first goal, he allowed Brad Marchand to split the middle for the semi-breakaway – he bit way too hard on the move. On the second goal, he failed to get the puck in deep, leading to the rush the Panthers scored on.

The Oilers didn’t get a whole lot going in this game in the first two periods, except for maybe the first nine minutes in the first period. They finished with three shots through 20, 11 after 40, and 21 after 60. They outshot the Panthers, but not a lot of Oilers’ shots were of the high-quality variety.

Connor McDavid scored his first goal of the Stanley Cup Final. He hasn’t been bad by any means, but there another two gears he can reach, and the Oilers desperately need him to reach them in Game 6.

If Corey Perry intends to play another season, the Oilers should be signing him the second the Stanley Cup Final is over. After scoring 19 regular-season goals, the 40-year-old is up to 10 in the postseason.

Calvin Pickard didn’t have a great game, allowing four goals on 18 shots for a .778 save percentage. It may be time to go back to Stuart Skinner for Tuesday’s game, as he didn’t have that poor of a Game 4, all things considered.

For the first time this postseason, the Oilers face elimination. Tuesday’s game is a must-win, easier said than done, considering it’s in the Panthers’ home barn. If, and it’s a big if, the Oilers can win that one, they’ll return to Alberta to host Game 7 on Friday.