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Important SN update for SouthlandAnother dramatic late twist in Stanley Cup Final
AP • June 13th, 2025 5:00 pm
Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl scored the decisive goal against the Florida Panthers in Game 4 | Photo: AP
The Stanley Cup Final is all square again after Leon Draisaitl scored the decisive goal in overtime for the fourth time this playoffs in Game 4.
The Edmonton Oilers beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 on Thursday (Friday NZ time) to tie the series after erasing a three-goal deficit and allowing the late tying goal.
Jake Walman gave the Oilers their first lead with 6:24 left in the third period, before Sam Reinhart scored with 19.5 seconds left to send the clash to overtime.
Three of the first four games of this final have needed extra time to be settled, the first time that has happened since 2013 and fifth time in NHL history.
Draisaitl's goal 11:18 into OT - the fourth session of extra hockey between these teams - sent the series back to Western Canada all even.
Game 5 of what's turning into a classic back-and-forth series between two hockey heavyweights is Saturday night (Sunday afternoon NZT) in Edmonton.
The Oilers became the first road team to rally from three down to win a game in the final since the Montreal Canadiens against the Seattle Metropolitans in 1919. Only six teams have come back from three down in the final in NHL history, the last time in 2006.
Edmonton are very much in it now, even after they looked like being blown out of the series. The Oilers 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 back-breaker.
Coach Kris Knoblauch pulled Stuart Skinner after he 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.
Pickard made some acrobatic saves, stopping the first 18 shots he faced and paving the way for a once-in-a-century comeback. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on Edmonton's first power play, Darnell Nurse beat Sergei Bobrovsky with another shot up high and Vasily Podkolzin made it 3-3 with less than five minutes left in the second.
Edmonton Oilers backup goaltender Calvin Pickard makes another fine stop to deny the Panthers | Photo: AP
With Draisaitl in the penalty box to start the third, Oilers were on their heels for several minutes and relied on Pickard to keep the score tied. He turned aside every shot he faced until Walman fired the puck past Bobrovsky to silence a vast majority of the crowd and incite a roar out of the Edmonton fans among those in attendance along with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
Panthers fans had one more chance to cheer when Reinhart tied it late. Then Draisaitl quieted them again.
With Hockey Hall of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist also in the building, the Oilers made sure they would not go quietly and fall behind 3-1 in the final like they did last year. They forced Game 7 then but ultimately fell short, with Florida winning the Cup for the first time in franchise history.
Now both teams are a couple of victories away from being champions - the Oilers hold onto the hope of becoming the first Canada-based team to lift the Stanley Cup since the 1993 Montreal Canadiens.
