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Oilers eliminate Flames on McDavid OT winner

Bailey Meadows
Bailey Meadows
|
May 27 2022, 4:46 am
Oilers eliminate Flames on McDavid OT winner
Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports

It feels like it was said every game in this series, but what a wild game this was.

Connor McDavid scored the overtime winner in Game 5 to give the Oilers a 5-4 win and take down the Calgary Flames to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

The goal sends the Oilers to the Conference Finals for the first time since 2006, when they made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals.

As far as entertainment value, Game 5 did not disappoint.

A seven-goal period, a controversial goal call, an overtime finish, there was a lot going on in this one.

The controversy came late in the third period when Blake Coleman appeared to give the Flames a 5-4 lead. The play was initially called a goal on the ice, but officials ruled it no goal after a review due to a kicking violation.

No matter what the call, one side was going to be outraged considering it was a discretionary call to make and the stakes of the game were so high.

Even the Sportsnet panel reaction was mixed, with Ron MacLean and Elliotte Friedman disagreeing with the call while Kevin Bieksa and Jennifer Botterill thought the officials got it right.

Considering that the Oilers went on to win the game, it’s a tough pill to swallow for Flames fans, and certainly will be a talking point for a while considering the grey area surrounding what determines a distinct kicking motion.

The first period was an uncharacteristically low-event 20 minutes for this series, with just eleven shots and one goal scored between the two teams.

That proved to simply be the calm before the storm, though. The second period was an absolute whirlwind with seven goals scored – including four in 1:11, which is a new NHL playoff record.

Making things even crazier was that McDavid didn’t hit the scoresheet at all during that period.

With the Flames already up 1-0, Mikael Backlund scored the first goal of the period, deflecting a bad-angle shot from Michael Stone past Mike Smith. It was the fifth goal of the playoffs for Backlund.

Then things got interesting as the Oilers fired back with three straight goals from Darnell Nurse, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Zach Hyman in 7:17 to take the lead. Hyman registered a point on all three goals.

That lead only lasted for 15 seconds, as the Flames would not only tie the game, but re-take the lead with goals from Johnny Gaudreau and Calle Jarnkrok scored 16 seconds apart.

But 40 seconds after that, Evan Bouchard’s point shot deflected off of Andrew Mangiapane’s skate and past Jacob Markstrom for the eighth goal of the period to tie the game up at four.

It was a fairly quiet game up until the overtime goal for McDavid, who failed to record a multi-point game for the first time in eight games.

Leon Draisatl was great all series long and produced another four points in Game 5. He had at least three points in every game in this series, with 17 points in five games.

Combined, McDavid and Draisatl have an absolutely mind-boggling 52 points in 12 games this postseason.

The Oilers will now wait to find out whether their Conference Final opponent will be the Colorado Avalanche or the St. Louis Blues. The Avalanche currently lead the series 3-2.

Whoever they face, it’ll be hard to live up to the exhilaration that this Battle of Alberta served up every game.

Bailey MeadowsBailey Meadows
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