Connor McDavid’s Game 5 mission statement — ‘Drag them back to Alberta’

The Edmonton Oilers are still alive in the Stanley Cup Final. Connor McDavid scored four points in a record-breaking performance in Game 4. Now, his team heads back to Sunrise to take on the Florida Panthers in Game 5. Edmonton trails 3-1 in the series, however. But McDavid is a determined man heading into Tuesday’s contest.

The Oilers captain attended a press conference with Leon Draisaitl on Saturday night. A reporter asked him whether he believed the team’s eight goals in Game 4 changed his view of the series. McDavid was rather blunt in his answer while providing a clear mission statement for Game 5.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s just one win, that’s all it is,” the Oilers captain said, via Sportsnet. “Doesn’t matter if you score eight or if you score one. It’s just one win. We got to go to Florida and do a job and, you know, drag them back to Alberta.”

Connor McDavid makes playoff history

McDavid was on fire for the Oilers in Game 4. He scored a huge goal in the second period to make it a 4-1 game. And he added three assists to his point total on Saturday night. His third period assist on Dylan Holloway’s goal etched his name in Stanley Cup Playoffs history, however. No player in the history of the NHL has recorded more assists in a single postseason than the Oilers captain.

McDavid is just the second player in league history to record 30 or more assists in a single postseason. The other is Wayne Gretzky, who managed the feat three times with the Oilers. Gretzky held the previous assist record after he provided 31 helpers during the 1988 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

McDavid now has six goals and 38 points this postseason. He has a legitimate chance of becoming the first 40-point postseason scorer since 1993. Gretzky was the last to do it, having done so on three occasions. The most recent occurrence came in 1993. Pittsburgh Penguins legend Mario Lemieux also had a 40+ point postseason, scoring 44 points in 1991.

Of course, these numbers are otherworldly. McDavid is truly cementing his legacy within the NHL. But he recognizes that, for most players, cementing your legacy requires a Stanley Cup. And work certainly needs to be done in order to obtain that.

A comfortable situation

Being on the brink of elimination inherently creates stress among a team. You work so hard to reach a certain goal, but all that work goes up in smoke in an instant. The Oilers are no strangers to having their backs against the wall. This may be why they found comfort in their predicament on Saturday night.

“We’re a unique club. I feel we’re most comfortable with our backs against the wall. That’s kind of what we showed at the beginning of the year when we were dead last. Our backs were against the wall and we came out and had some historic runs. So I think we’re a unique club in that regard,” Edmonton forward Connor Brown said, via Sportsnet.

The Oilers certainly looked like the team many expected heading into the Stanley Cup Final. And now, it’s up to them to continue this momentum moving forward. Their backs remain against the wall even with their incredible win on Saturday night. Connor McDavid leads his team into battle in Game 5 with the Panthers on Tuesday night with puck drop scheduled for 8 PM Eastern Time.

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