McDavid among top performers for Oilers in Game 5 of Stanley Cup Final

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Who played well in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final? Sometimes it’s easy to tell, sometimes it isn’t. NHL.com graded the players in the series-extending 5-3 win by the Edmonton Oilers against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on Tuesday. Here are the players that stood out the most.

Honor roll

Connor Brown (Edmonton Oilers): The Edmonton forward got the Oilers off on the right foot, scoring a short-handed goal at 5:30 of the first period. Not only did it give the visitors a 1-0 lead, but it discombobulated the Panthers, who had started the game strong but whose final shot of the period came with 14:01 left.

Evan Rodrigues (Florida Panthers): The forward had a brilliant assist on Florida’s first goal, by Matthew Tkachuk, to cut it to 3-1. Then he scored the Panthers’ second goal, his fourth of the series. His six points are the most by a Florida player in a Final.

Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers): The Oilers captain took over in the second period and finished with four points (two goals, two assists). His assist on the power-play goal by Corey Perry was amazing; he puck-handled through four stick checks and made a cross-crease pass to Perry for a tap-in. In the past two games, McDavid has eight points (three goals, five assists), which is a modern-era record (since 1943-44) for the most points while facing elimination in a Final. He has 11 points in the series, the most in a Final since Daniel Briere had 12 points in 2010 for the Philadelphia Flyers. He is the only player to score four points in consecutive Final games.

Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers): The alternate captain willed his team back into the fight after it fell behind 3-0. His goal from the slot off an Oilers turnover made it 3-1 in the second period, and then his work on the forecheck set up Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the goal that pulled the Panthers within 4-3 early in the third. He was dangerous on all of his third-period shifts. Tkachuk tied Vladimir Tarasenko for the team high in shots on goal (four) and had a game-high six hits.

Evan Bouchard (Edmonton Oilers): The Oilers defenseman had three assists, giving him 26 in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, more than any other defenseman in a playoff year, passing Paul Coffey, who had 25 for Edmonton in 1985 and now coaches its defense. Bouchard has nine multipoint games in these playoffs, tying Brian Leetch (New York Rangers, 1994) and Coffey (1985) for the second-most by a defenseman in one postseason. Al MacInnis had 10 for the Calgary Flames in 1989.

Stock watch

The Edmonton penalty kill: ⬆️ It has outscored Florida’s power play 2-0 in the past two games, has killed eight straight penalties and has allowed one goal in 16 chances in the series.

Jack Nicklaus: ⬆️ The legendary golfer banged the drum to start Game 5. The 84-year-old Golden Bear, who lives in North Palm Beach, Florida, has won 18 golf majors. He got things into a frenzy when he exhorted the crowd after banging the drum.

Sergei Bobrovsky: ⬇️ After his brilliance through the first eight periods of this series, the Florida goalie has struggled. He allowed two goals in the third period of Game 3, five in a little more than a period in Game 4 and four in Game 5. That’s 11 goals on the past 45 shots he has faced.

Aleksander Barkov: ⬇️ Defense is the hallmark for the Florida captain, but he was minus-2 in Game 5 and is minus-4 in the past two games. He had two shots in 21:19 of ice time Tuesday.

Darnell Nurse: ⬆️ The Edmonton defenseman was not great in the early part of the series and has been fighting an injury throughout the Final, but he had a team-high five blocked shots and had three shots in 17:28 in Game 5.

What we learned

Skinner is solid for Oilers

Stuart Skinner wasn’t bad in losing the first three games of the Final, but he wasn’t good enough. He’s been better in the past two, holding on to a lead in each. Skinner stopped 23 of 26 shots in the final two periods of Game 5, including two saves in the first minute of the game that set the tone. In Game 4, he stopped 32 of 33 shots.

Panthers have a blueprint

The Panthers know how to defeat the Oilers. They did it in each of the first three games and they reverted to what worked then in the final two periods of Game 5. They got pucks in deep, worked their forecheck, banged bodies, got a cycle going and created high-danger scoring chances. They need to do more of that from the beginning of Game 6 on Friday unless they want to face a winner-take-all Game 7 here Monday.