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Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 25: Golden Knights contain Oilers at even strength to take Game 5, Panthers eliminate Maple Leafs in 3-2 OT win

Scott Maxwell
Scott Maxwell(scotmaxw)
May 13, 2023, 01:21 EDTUpdated: May 13, 2023, 23:47 EDT
Stanley Cup Playoffs Day 25: Golden Knights contain Oilers at even strength to take Game 5, Panthers eliminate Maple Leafs in 3-2 OT win
Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Another day of Game 5s, another set of games where one game saw a team with a chance to move on, while the other saw both teams fighting to take the series lead. Much like the first two, these ones saw similar results, so let’s take a look at the action.

Nick Cousins’ OT goal fends off Leafs comeback, sends Panthers to Conference Finals

Nothing summed up this series better than the first period of Game 5.

The Florida Panthers exploded at the start, dominating the play for the first five minutes, getting a power play, and scoring on said power play thanks to Aaron Ekblad. However, in the next 10 minutes the Toronto Maple Leafs showed that they weren’t backing down, and walked all over the Panthers in terms of possession. But, Sergei Bobrovsky was strong, and the second the Panthers got a chance the other way, it ended up in the back of the net via a goal from Carter Verhaeghe, and the Panthers were up 2-0 after the first in a period that should have been a bit closer (much like the rest of this series).

The second period was wide open for both teams, with a combined 34 shots between the two teams, and while the Panthers had the 18-16 edge in shots, Joseph Woll stopped all 18 and allowed the Leafs to mount a comeback. And it was all Morgan Rielly, as he added to his really strong playoff run 7:50 into the second with a point shot, and then tied it later in the period with a drive to the net that just snuck in.

Except it didn’t. After almost nine minutes in real-time looking over the play, it was determined that it wasn’t a goal, not because it didn’t cross the line, but because the referee blew the whistle before it went in. Leafs fans weren’t happy, especially with the memories pouring in on last year’s elimination game being decided by a goal called back as well.

However, the Leafs didn’t let this called-back goal decide their fate this time. They pressed hard in the third, outshooting the Panthers 14-7, but they wouldn’t find the back of the net until 4:27 left in the period, when William Nylander scored on a nicely placed shot that Bobrovsky probably wanted back. And this time, the Leafs had tied the game for real.

This game needed overtime, and we got a fair amount, going beyond the 15-minute mark, but not much farther. The Panthers got a 3-on-2 chance at the 15:32 mark, Nick Cousins opted to shoot, and he beat Woll cleanly for the game and series winner. Ekblad and Verhaeghe both had a goal and an assist for the Panthers in the win, and Woll played well again in the loss stopping 40 of 43 shots, but the big story was the guy in the other crease. Sergei Bobrovsky had another phenomenal game, stopping 50 of 52 shots in the win, and finishing the five-game series with a .943% save percentage and saving 7.64 goals above expected at all strengths in the series.

With that, the Panthers move on to the Conference Finals for the first time since their Cup Final run in 1996, the only other time the Panthers have advanced past the second round, and will face the Carolina Hurricanes for the first time in both franchise’s history.

Meanwhile, the Leafs are eliminated after winning their first playoff series in 19 years, but the nature of their departure may not change their fates from what would have been if they didn’t win a series at all. Their most notable free agents on the ice are Michael Bunting and Ryan O’Reilly as UFAs and Ilya Samsonov as an RFA, but their biggest one might be general manager Kyle Dubas, depending on his future with the team.

Golden Knights score three goals in 1:29 span on route to Game 5 win

It’s been back-and-forth so far in this series between the Vegas Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers, and like a lot of this second round, most of the games were blowouts. Both teams have taken turns adjusting to the other, and that pattern continued in Game 5, as both needed to adjust big time with Alex Pietrangelo and Darnell Nurse out of the lineup with their one-game suspensions.

Well, the one thing the Golden Knights still haven’t adjusted for is their discipline. It was much better than the Oilers, who gifted Vegas with seven power play opportunities, but you don’t want to give Edmonton any chances with their daunting power play, and it costed the Golden Knights only 3:02 into the first with a goal from Connor McDavid. Luckily, Jack Eichel responded 50 seconds later to tie it, but when the Oilers went back on the power play halfway through the period, they took the lead again with a goal from Zach Hyman.

However, the Oilers lack of discipline also benefitted the Golden Knights. Philip Broberg and Mattias Janmark both took penalties on Eichel midway through the second period, and that proved to be the turning point of the game. Mark Stone capitalized on the 5-on-3 to tie the game, and then 29 seconds later Reilly Smith took care of the other power play to give Vegas the 3-2 lead. That momentum continued for the next minute as Nicolas Hague added to score to make it 4-2, and Stuart Skinner was out of the game again after allowing 4 goals on 22 shots.

Vegas seemed to be in good position after that, but their lack of discipline caused problems once again, as Keegan Kolesar got a five-minute major for boarding Mattias Ekholm late in the second, and that scary Oilers power play would have a full five minutes to start a comeback.

But, they managed to limit the damage. McDavid got another power play goal early in the third on that five minute man-advantage to make it a one-goal game, but outside of that, Vegas actually had the advantage in shot attempts, scoring chances, and expected goals at 5v5 that period, and held on for the 4-3 win. Eichel had a goal and two assists and Jonathan Marchessault had three assists to lead Vegas, while McDavid scored two of the Oilers three power play goals in the loss.

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