Oilers vs. Panthers Game 5 Recap: McDavid Shines, Skinner Saves, Defensive Tests

Since we've all had the chance to sleep off what was an elevated heart rate, to say the least, I thought it would be appropriate to go over what made last night so entertaining for hockey fans and stressful for Oil Country.

The Oilers got off to a very productive start and quickly with the Connor Brown short-handed marker. It sucked the wind out of the building completely and you could notice it even on the broadcast. Reporters in the aftermath recounted that it was akin to being in a library.

But the penalty itself which was a high sticking infraction by Kulak, who does not take a ton of penalties granted, was slightly worrisome and while there were obvious positives to glean from last night I will start by assessing a glaring issue that could bite this Oilers group in the rear end,

The penalty was an errant stick, clearly unintentional, while Kulak was trying to recover from being slightly out of position. Not an egregious penalty nor was it a blown call, the issue to my eye stemmed from something that plagued the Oilers all night but it just never proved fatal. Zone exits.

In my preview for last night, I had said that they really needed to clean up this area of their game and it didn't improve despite the win. Many number of times I think we all collectively held our breath and our seats watching them fail to clear the zone and simply survive being under siege. At the end of the second frame, there was a sequence when in a span of roughly 25 seconds they failed to get the puck north of the redline four consecutive times. The Kulak penalty early in the first was a product of this kink in need of ironing out.

The Florida Panthers are to me the best forechecking team in the NHL. They pursue the puck like a school of piranhas, so credit has to go to them to be sure, but the Oilers defenseman are making life easy for them by chipping soft pucks up the wall directly to their rooks standing astutely a post at their respective points. I lost count of how many times I saw a puck floated up the boards only to find a Panther defenseman stop it and send it back down the wall to keep the pressure on.

The Rodrigues goal to make the score 4-2 was absolutely textbook Panthers forechecking. Broberg to his credit attempted to make a calm play with his legs and in my evaluation had the right idea, but the Panthers smelled blood and attacked like white blood cells fighting an infection to recover the puck. There isn't much you can do about that one, unfortunately.

I bring this up because Broberg even as a young player seems to be the only Oiler defender who regularly attempts to transport the puck after a retrieval with his legs. He looks for open patches of ice to improve the condition of the puck whether it be for a new passing lane or skating lane.

Now obviously in a situation like that one, it may have been optimal to just take an icing or attempt a clear and try to live another day, but that sentiment seems to be the modus operandi for this group and with the cup in the building on Friday they have to once again try to clean this up.

The Positives

On the other hand, there were some very clear positive takeaways, Connor McDavid having a sensational night and coming within 6 points of the all-time record held by his predecessor Wayne Gretzky being the obvious one.

But Stuart Skinner pitched another gem and I don't think gets nearly enough credit. He made a ton of timely saves to keep this game out of reach for the Panthers throughout the bulk of the game and the ones that did go in were not bad.

Moreover, Zach Hyman finally checked into the series with his first tally and did so on the powerplay which finished 2/5 and looks to be finding its groove. Add the short-handed marker as well as holding the Panthers' powerplay unit to a bagel on 5 attempts and the special teams battle seems to finally be shifting in the Oilers' favor.

Game 6 on Friday in Edmonton is shaping up to be another classic.

"Bring your earplugs" as Pierre Lebrun said on X.