By Jacob Lev, CNN
(CNN) — For the second consecutive year, hockey fans will be treated to Stanley Cup Final between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers.
The Oilers defeated the Dallas Stars 6-3 on Thursday to win Game 5, and the Western Conference Final, to advance to the Cup.
It was a quick start for Connor McDavid and company as Edmonton scored two goals on their first two shots of the game.
With the Stars fans on hand at the American Airlines Center stunned, Dallas coach Pete DeBoer pulled goalie Jake Oettinger, who was replaced by Casey DeSmith.
Oilers forward Jeff Skinner would tally the team’s third goal minutes later.
But as the Stars had showed throughout the playoffs, they had no quit.
Jason Robertson stopped the bleeding and got Dallas on the board as they took a 3-1 deficit into the first intermission.
After a Roope Hintz goal to bring the Stars back to just a one-goal game, it was McDavid that came through and flashed why he is the most dangerous player in the game.
The 28-year-old, three-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner gathered a redirection from Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner and blazed down center ice to beat DeSmith to extend the lead.
Despite Robertson scoring his second goal of the game, the Oilers proved to be too much, adding two more goals to down the Stars in the conference finals for the second straight year and coast to another Cup final against the Panthers.
The Oilers celebrated in front of the Clarence S. Campbell Bowl, which McDavid went against all usual hockey norms and touched the trophy. The Oilers didn’t touch the trophy last year before losing to the Panthers in seven games.
McDavid said after the game he was proud of his team’s will all series long.
“It was a long night. We hung in there,” McDavid told the ESPN broadcast. “I thought we played well all five games. Honestly, everybody stepped up. Everybody made contributions. Fun group to be apart of for sure.”
A rematch for the ages
The Oilers will face a Panthers team that is coming off a dominant stretch in this year’s playoffs, eliminating the Carolina Hurricanes in five games on Wednesday to secure their third consecutive trip to the Cup.
The reigning champions Panthers defeated the Oilers in a hard fought seven-game series last year.
McDavid called Florida a “heck of a team.”
“Obviously, it’s their third finals. They’re a special group,” McDavid said. “We’re a special group. It’s going to be fun. Couldn’t ask for a better opportunity to go up against a team that beat us last year. Really excited about it.”
The Panthers will look to be the NHL’s first team to repeat as Cup champions since their in-state rival, the Tampa Bay Lightning, did so in 2020 and 2021.
Edmonton are now four games away from not only winning the franchise’s fifth Cup and first since 1990, but they can become the first Canadian team to lift it since the Montreal Canadiens did in 1993.
Game 1 is at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
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