Edmonton Oilers Win Game 5 of Stanley Cup Final, Force Game 6

Oilers Defeat Panthers 8-2 in Front of Home Crowd

Edmonton Oilers stave off elimination and force Game 6 in the Stanley Cup Final with an 8-2 victory over the Florida Panthers.

The Oilers, who were facing elimination after losing the first three games of the series, came out firing in Game 5 and never looked back. They scored three goals in the first period and five more in the second, chasing Panthers starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky from the game.

Connor McDavid led the way for the Oilers with a goal and three assists, while Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman each had two goals and an assist. Evan Bouchard, Darnell Nurse, and Brett Kulak also scored for Edmonton.

The Panthers got goals from Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Oilers' offensive onslaught. Bobrovsky allowed seven goals on 24 shots before being replaced by Chris Driedger, who allowed one goal on 14 shots.

The Oilers now head to Florida for Game 6 on Sunday night, needing a win to force a Game 7 back in Edmonton. The Panthers, meanwhile, will be looking to close out the series and win their first Stanley Cup in franchise history.

In a post-game interview, Oilers captain Connor McDavid said, "We knew we had to come out strong tonight and we did that. We played our game and we got the result we wanted. We're not going to give up. We're going to keep fighting and we're going to try to win this series."

Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov said, "We're disappointed we didn't win tonight, but we still have a chance to close it out in Game 6. We're going to go home and regroup and we're going to be ready to play our best game on Sunday."

Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final will be played on Sunday night at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida. The puck drops at 8:00 p.m. ET.