Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid, right, celebrates his goal against the Calgary Flames with defenseman Cody Ceci in overtime in Game 5 of an NHL hockey second-round playoff series Thursday, May 26, 2022, in Calgary, Alberta. Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP
CALGARY, Alberta — Connor McDavid scored at 5:03 of overtime and the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Calgary Flames 5-4 on Thursday to win the second-round playoff series in five games and advance to the Western Conference finals.
The Edmonton captain scored his seventh goal of the postseason, beating Jacob Markstrom off a pass from Leon Draisaitl to send the Oilers spilling over the bench in celebration.
Zach Hyman had a goal and two assists and Darnell Nurse, Jesse Puljujarvi and Evan Bouchard also scored for the Oilers. Mike Smith made 32 saves as Edmonton claimed the first postseason Battle of Alberta in 31 years.
Draisaitl added four assists — his fifth straight contest registering three-plus points to build on the NHL playoff record he set in Game 4.
McDavid and Draisaitl have both amassed 26 points to lead the playoffs so far.
The Oilers will face either the Colorado Avalanche or St. Louis Blues in their first conference final appearance since 2006. Colorado leads that series 3-2, with Game 6 set for Friday in St. Louis.
Mikael Backlund had a goal and an assist and Johnny Gaudreau, Calle Jarnkrok and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for Calgary. Blake Coleman added two assists and Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves as the Flames dropped to 0-10 when trailing a playoff series 3-1.
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