Connor McDavid’s goal 5:03 into overtime gave the visiting Edmonton Oilers a 5-4 victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday and sends them to the Western Conference final.
Darnell Nurse, Jesse Puljujarvi, Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers, who erased yet another multi-goal deficit en route to claiming the best-of-seven series in five games. Edmonton goaltender Mike Smith made 32 saves.
Leon Draisaitl collected four assists, giving him at least three points in five consecutive games, an NHL playoff record. Draisaitl collected 17 points in the series.
In overtime, McDavid took a feed from Draisaitl in the slot and ripped a shot off the post and in for his seventh goal of the playoffs.
The tally gave McDavid his only point of the night.
“I was bad all night,” the Edmonton captain said. “I was riding the coattails of my teammates and got a great opportunity, and so I’m happy to contribute.”
The Oilers, who are headed to the conference finals for the first time since 2006, will face the winner of the Avalanche-Blues series. Colorado leads St. Louis 3-2 entering Game 6 on Friday in Missouri.
McDavid said of getting to the West finals, “It means everything to me and this group. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs, and this is one of the ups.”
Andrew Mangiapane, Mikael Backlund, Johnny Gaudreau and Calle Jarnkrok scored for the Flames, while goalie Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots. Backlund also had an assist, and Blake Coleman had two helpers.
The finish capped yet another crazy clash. Just like the first two games in Calgary, the hosts blew a 2-0 lead — though the Flames did recover to win Game 1.
“The goal was to win a series. We hadn’t won a round for a long time, so we won a round and ran out of ammo in this series,” said Flames coach Darryl Sutter.
“The best player won the series for them,” he said, adding that if Calgary scores “a big goal in games 2, 4 and 5 (which were all tied in the third period), we extend the series.”
Mangiapane’s third goal of the playoffs opened the scoring Thursday just past the midway point of the first period, and Backlund’s deflection tally doubled the lead 5:41 into the second period, his fifth of the playoffs.
Then it was Edmonton’s turn to lead. Nurse converted a one-timer from the high slot two minutes later for his second of the playoffs, and Puljujarvi netted his second of the postseason at 9:56 of the second period.
Hyman’s power-play goal put the Oilers ahead with 5:03 left in the second period, giving him a goal in five straight games. The tally started a wild outburst.
Gaudreau replied 15 seconds later, his third of the playoffs. Jarnkrok put Calgary ahead 4-3 when he buried a shot 16 seconds after that — his first goal since being acquired at the trade deadline.
However, Bouchard tied the score 40 seconds later with his third of the playoffs. The 71-second spree set a league record for the fastest four goals in an NHL playoff game.
For the Flames, the loss was controversial. Coleman appeared to score a go-ahead goal late in regulation, but upon review, it was ruled he kicked in the puck.
–Field Level Media
