Leon Draisaitl scores in OT once more, Oilers beat Panthers 5-4 in Sport 4 to tie Stanley Cup Last
Leon Draisaitl scored in time beyond regulation for the fourth time this playoffs, and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 in Sport 4 of the Stanley Cup Last on Thursday evening to tie the collection, erasing a three-goal deficit and bouncing again after permitting the late tying purpose.
Jake Walman gave the Oilers their first lead with 6:24 left within the third interval earlier than Sam Reinhart scored with 19.5 seconds left to ship it to time beyond regulation. Three of the primary 4 video games of this closing have wanted additional time to be settled, the primary time that has occurred since 2013 and fifth time in NHL historical past.
Draisaitl’s purpose 11:18 into OT — the fourth session of additional hockey between these groups — despatched the collection again to Western Canada all even. Sport 5 of what’s turning right into a basic back-and-forth collection between two hockey heavyweights is Saturday evening in Edmonton.
“It’s clearly a lucky bounce. No secret about it. We’ll take it,” Draisaitl mentioned.
“We’re a resilient group. We’re by no means going to stop it doesn’t matter what. We’ll take it and go dwelling,” he added. “Our first isn’t what we needed after which we began to get our legs. … That’s the depth we’ve got to play with when the puck drops.”
Draisaitl set an NHL playoff document together with his fourth time beyond regulation purpose in a single postseason, breaking a tie he shared with 4 gamers together with Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk in 2023, present teammate Corey Perry, who did so with Anaheim in 2017, and Maurice Richard (1951). It was his second purpose of this collection, becoming a member of Montreal’s John LeClair, who scored two OT objectives within the Canadiens win over Los Angeles in 1993, and New York Rangers Don Raleigh in 1950.
The Oilers turned the primary highway crew to rally from down three to win a recreation within the closing for the reason that Montreal Canadiens towards the Seattle Metropolitans in 1919. Solely six groups have come again from down three within the closing in NHL historical past, the final time in 2006.
Edmonton could be very a lot in it now, even after it regarded like it will be blown out of the collection. The Oilers fell behind 3-0 within the first interval on a pair of objectives by Matthew Tkachuk and one other with 41.7 seconds left from Anton Lundell, which may have been a back-breaker.
Coach Kris Knoblauch pulled Stuart Skinner after his starter allowed these three objectives on 17 pictures within the first, when the ice was tilted towards him and his teammates didn’t have a lot of a pushback. In went Calvin Pickard, the journeyman backup who gained all six of his begins this playoffs earlier than getting injured.
Pickard made some acrobatic saves, stopping the primary 18 pictures he confronted and paving the way in which for a once-in-a-century comeback. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on Edmonton’s first energy play, Darnell Nurse beat Sergei Bobrovsky with one other shot up excessive and Vasily Podkolzin made it 3-all with lower than 5 minutes left within the second.
With Draisaitl within the penalty field to begin the third, Oilers had been on their heels for a number of minutes and relied on Pickard to maintain the rating tied. He turned apart each shot he confronted till Walman fired the puck previous Bobrovsky to silence a overwhelming majority of the group and incite a roar out of the Edmonton followers amongst these in attendance together with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.
Panthers followers had yet one more probability to cheer when Reinhart tied it late. Then Draisaitl quieted them once more.
With Hockey Corridor of Famers Wayne Gretzky, Jaromir Jagr and Henrik Lundqvist additionally within the constructing, the Oilers made certain they’d not go quietly and fall behind 3-1 within the closing like they did final yr. They pressured Sport 7 then however finally fell brief, with Florida profitable the Cup for the primary time in franchise historical past.
Now every of those groups is a few victories away from being champions.