It’s simple in theory, yes, but the Panthers haven’t been able to produce in the closeout game yet. Is the pressure mounting on this Panthers team with so much on the line?

“No. No. No,” star winger Matthew Tkachuk insisted postgame. “It’s not an elimination game for us. We’re going up there with a 3-2 series lead. Just got to take care of business.”

How do they do that?

There are a few things to clean up. Among them:

— Slow starts: Edmonton, playing desperate with its season on the line, pounced early in both Games 4 and 5 and never looked back.

In Game 4, Edmonton had a 5-1 lead through the first five minutes of the second period, which prompted Paul Maurice to pull starting goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky from the net for the first time this postseason.

In Game 5, the Oilers were up 3-0 25 minutes into the game.

“The last couple games, our start wasn’t good enough,” Bennett said.

— Special teams: Of Edmonton’s 13 goals the past two games, five have come on special teams — three on the power play, two shorthanded.

On Tuesday, Edmonton opened scoring with a Connor Brown shorthanded goal when he intercepted a Brandon Montour pass at the blue line and rushed down the ice for an uncontested breakaway. Zach Hyman and Corey Perry both scored on the power play in the second period.

...continued

©2024 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.