Oilers make Stanley Cup history with stunning Game 4 comeback win
The Edmonton Oilers didn't just win Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final to even their series with the Florida Panthers at 2-2.
They accomplished something the NHL hasn't seen in 106 years, News.Az reports, citing ESPN.
With their 5-4 overtime win on Thursday night, Edmonton became the first road team in Stanley Cup Final history to rally from a deficit of at least three goals and win since the Montreal Canadiens rallied to defeat the Seattle Metropolitans in overtime in 1919.
Leon Draisaitl's 11th goal of the playoffs ended Game 4 in extra time for the Oilers. Home teams with at least a three-goal lead in the Stanley Cup Final were 158-1 before Thursday night.
"I think that once again it shows you that our group never quits," Draisaitl said. "I think we believe that no matter how bad it is, if we get over that hump of adversity we're going to keep pushing, we're going to keep coming, and eventually it'll break."
Draisaitl made NHL history of his own in the victory. This was his NHL record fourth overtime game-winning goal in the 2025 postseason, the most ever in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He also set the regular-season record with six this season.
Draisaitl's dramatic goal Thursday night came in a game in which the Oilers trailed 3-0 after the first period.
"We sat back too much," defenseman Jake Walman said. "We watched a little too much. We didn't get to our game at all in that first period. That's pretty much the thing we talked about in the intermission -- get to our game and see what happens."
That sentiment was conveyed in an impactful intermission speech by forward Corey Perry, the 40-year-old in his 20th NHL season, whose words inspired and refocused the Oilers for a second period that saw them tie the score at 3-3.
"I'm not going to share exactly what he said, but the message was that he's been in these moments," Draisaitl said. "He's not a guy that speaks up or yells at guys all the time. That's not his character. So you know when a guy like that -- with that many games, that much experience, he's won everything there is to win, he knows how to win -- when he speaks up, you listen. It grabs your attention."
The Oilers didn't have that attention at the start.
Edmonton was trying to rebound from a devastating 6-1 loss in Game 3. Goaltender Stuart Skinner, who was pulled from that loss, got the start Thursday night because of his ability to bounce back after defeats along with his 6-0 record in Game 4s in his career.
But Skinner's night would end early, as he was replaced by goalie Calvin Pickard in the second period. Pickard made 18 straight saves before Florida's Sam Reinhart sent the game to overtime with a goal at 19:40 the third period, scoring with goalie Sergei Bobrovsky on the bench for an extra skater.
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