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The Edmonton Oilers have won Game 4 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final thanks to an overtime goal by Leon Draisaitl, tying the series at two games apiece.
The Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period, but a goalie change and some timely power plays helped the Oilers mount a stunning second-period rally to tie the game. Jake Walman gave Edmonton its first lead of the game with 6:24 remaining in the third, but Sam Reinhart tied it with 20 seconds left after Florida pulled Sergei Bobrovsky, forcing overtime. That set the stage for Leon Draisaitl's heroics with a miracle one-handed shot that took a major deflection off Niko Mikkola to skip past Bobrovsky.
Game 5 is in Edmonton on Saturday.
The Oilers have become the seventh team in Stanley Cup Final history to overcome a three-goal deficit and win a game.
The previous teams to achieve this incredible feat: Hurricanes in 2006 (Game 1), Penguins in 1992 (Game 1), Flyers in 1987 (Game 3), Canadiens in 1944 (Game 4), Maple Leafs in 1936 (Game 3) and Canadiens in 1919 (Game 5).
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The people not watching the Stanley Cup Final — and the first three games had brutally low viewership in the U.S. — are missing an incredible series.
I'll keep banging the drum.
The SCF not being on network television is such a miss. This kind of theater should get the reach it deserves.
What an epic win for the Oilers. Down 2-1 in the series, down 3-0 in the game, and they come all the way back to win — even withstanding a last-minute equalizer. We knew the Panthers were unflappable, but now that Edmonton is proving to be just as resilient, this truly can be a series for the ages.
Back to Edmonton. Best-of-three. Two titanic teams: one battle-tested champion trying to hold on, one battle-scarred contender trying to break through. This is the good stuff. Buckle up.
Leon Draisaitl had no business scoring from that position. With two defenders all over him, Draisaitl simply threw the puck at the net. It took a huge deflection off of Niko Mikkola to beat Sergei Bobrovsky five-hole.
A huge stroke of fortune (or misfortune) provides a massive pivot point in this Stanley Cup Final.
Leon Draisaitl scores his second overtime winner of this Stanley Cup final, and his fourth of this postseason, to give the Oilers an incredible road win from down 3-0 after the first period, tying the series at 2-2!
Incredible!
It wasn't just the post, Pickard just got a piece of that Bennett shot as well.
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Sam Bennett had a ton of room to shoot at but drew iron. That's the second wide-open look he's had in this game. One was stopped by Stuart Skinner. The other was stopped by the post. Or fate. Or the hockey gods. Who knows at this point?
OT 13:09 – Oilers 4, Panthers 4
Half the stadium was already celebrating! Bennett looked to have nearly half the net to aim at shooting from the faceoff circle but he could only hit the post!
OT 16:10 – Oilers 4, Panthers 4
Perry nearly has a breakaway on goal but the puck is just a bit too far for him to reach. He corrals the puck at the wall but Forsling promptly dumps him to the ice with a check.
Sergei Bobrovsky lost control of his stick and sight of the puck — it was behind him after hitting the post — in that wild goalmouth scramble, but somehow the puck stayed out and Bobrovsky managed to cover it up.
OT 18:19 – Oilers 4, Panthers 4
Pandemonium in the Panthers crease! Bodies flying everywhere, Bobrovsky loses his stick, Frederic nearly forces it home, Forsling makes a save, the puck hits the post, everything's happening!
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OT 20:00 – Oilers 4, Panthers 4
Here we go! Either a commanding 3-1 series lead for the Panthers, or a whole new Stanley Cup Final tied 2-2. Don't go anywhere!
This series is turning into an instant classic …
We've now seen a overtime-forcing goal with a maximum of 20 seconds left in two separate games.
Corey Perry for Edmonton in Game 2, and now Sam Reinhart for Florida tonight. Both goals were scored by the home team.
What will tonight's overtime have in store?
The Panthers have four players in the lineup tonight that have scored a playoff overtime goal in their career:
The Oilers have six:
Oilers 4, Panthers 4
This is the first Stanley Cup Final since 2014 and the eighth overall to have at least three games go to overtime:
All the series listed above had three games go to OT with the sole exception of 1951, when all five games in the series went past regulation.
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I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the next goal is pretty big. That said, win or lose, I'm done writing off the Oilers. Between last year's 3-0 series deficit and tonight's 3-0 first-period deficit following a 6-1 beatdown, Edmonton has proven it's unfazed by any situation. Of course, we already knew that about the Panthers. Put them together and you get one hell of a series.
This is the 100th overtime game in Stanley Cup Final history. Road teams surprisingly own a 52-44-3 advantage in those 100 contests.
The Florida Panthers, ladies and gentlemen. They are utterly unflappable, and utterly indomitable.
