Leon Draisaitl scores in OT again,
Oilers beat Panthers 5-4 in Game 4 to tie Stanley Cup Final
[June 13, 2025]
By STEPHEN WHYNO
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Falling behind three goals after 20 minutes,
the Edmonton Oilers scored three of their own over the next 20 to
erase their deficit. They took the lead, only to give up the tying
goal to the Florida Panthers in the final seconds of regulation to
send another game between the hockey heavyweights to overtime.
Riding the waves of emotion through what's turning into an epic
showdown in the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers beat the Panthers 5-4
in Game 4 on Thursday night to tie the series on Leon Draisaitl's
NHL playoff-record fourth OT goal.
“Games like that, it’s exhausting — it’s a roller coaster,” Edmonton
coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Two good teams playing as hard as they
are, playing the right way. Obviously with what’s on the line, it’s
stressful. There’s a lot on the line, but it is fun and I think our
guys are having fun, enjoying this moment.”
They're enjoying it much more tied at two games apiece than they
would have down 3-1 and on the brink of losing to Florida in the
final for a second consecutive year. They go home to Western Canada
for Game 5 on Saturday night all even.
“Better than it could have been, but obviously a long way to go,”
said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who scored the Oilers' first goal in Game
4. "We’re just excited to get back home and play in front of our
fans, and Saturday night is going to be pretty fun.”
Draisaitl’s goal 11:18 into OT — the fourth session of extra hockey
between these teams — came after Jake Walman put Edmonton ahead with
six minutes left in the third period and Sam Reinhart tied it for
Florida with 19.5 seconds left.
“That’s what we do: We’re a resilient group," said Draisaitl, who
also scored to win Game 1 in OT. "We’re never going to quit no
matter what. We’ll take it and go home.”
The Oilers became the first road team to rally from down three to
win a game in the final since the Montreal Canadiens against the
Seattle Metropolitans in 1919. Only six teams have come back from
down three in the final, the last time in 2006.
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Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, front right, makes a save
against the Edmonton Oilers during the first overtime period in Game
4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise, Fla., Thursday,
June 12, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Edmonton fell behind 3-0 in the first period on a
pair of goals by Matthew Tkachuk and another with 41.7 seconds left
from Anton Lundell, which could have been a backbreaker.
Knoblauch pulled Stuart Skinner after his starter allowed those
three goals on 17 shots in the first, when the ice was tilted
against him and his teammates did not have much of a pushback. In
went Calvin Pickard, the journeyman backup who won all six of his
starts this playoffs before getting injured, and he stopped the
first 18 shots he faced with some more big saves coming in overtime
before Draisaitl scored.
Pickard's play paved the way for the once-in-a-century comeback,
with Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin all scoring
in the second. The Oilers held on, went ahead on Walman's goal and
dealt with more adversity when Reinhart sent it to overtime — the
first final since 2013 with three of the first four games needing
extra hockey and the fifth all time.
“There were chances everywhere,” Tkachuk said. “Both teams had good
looks. I mean, one of their players it hits off a skate and hits the
post. We got lucky there. It’s a game of inches.”
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