Leon Draisaitl scored the winning goal at 11:18 of overtime as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Florida Panthers by a score of 5-4 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday (June 12) to tie the best-of-seven series at two wins apiece.
Edmonton also got goals from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Vasily Podkolzin and Jake Walman. Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk scored twice, while Anton Lundell and Sam Reinhart each potted a goal for the Panthers.
Related: 2025 Stanley Cup Final Hub
The win went to Edmonton netminder Calvin Pickard, who stopped 22 of 23 shots after coming in relief of Stuart Skinner to start the second period. Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, who allowed five goals on 35 shots, took the loss.
Edmonton’s 2025 postseason run has been filled with incredible twists and turns, but Thursday night in Sunrise might have topped them all. Here’s a look at everything that made Game 4 so unbelievable:
Overtime Again
The Oilers were mere moments from victory in regulation before Reinhart scored at 19:40 of the third period, sending the teams to overtime for the third time this series.
With at least two games still to be played between Edmonton and Florida, this series is already tied for the second-most overtime games in a single Stanley Cup Final.
Reinhart’s tally was the second-latest tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history, just two seconds shy of the record, which was set by Edmonton forward Corey Perry in Game 2 last Friday (June 6).
Sudden Death Superstar
Speaking of records, Draisaitl set a couple of them when he one-handed the puck past Bobrovsky just over 11 minutes into sudden death.
LEON DRAISAITL DELIVERS IN OT! ⛽️
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 13, 2025
THE OILERS TIE THE #STANLEYCUP FINAL WITH DRAI'S SUBWAY CANADA OT WINNER! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/D1om10yWLv
The goal was Draisaitl’s fourth in overtime during the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, which now stands as the most in a single postseason in NHL history (he’d shared the previous record of three with Mel Hill, Maurice Richard, Perry and Tkachuk). Draisaitl also became the Oilers’ all-time leader for playoff overtime goals, moving ahead of Hall-of-Fame winger Glenn Anderson.
But what makes all this most amazing is that Draisaitl just achieved the regular season version of both of those milestones: he scored six overtime goals in 2024-25, setting a new NHL single-season record, while bringing his career total to 19 overtime goals, the most in Oilers history.
Another Comeback Win
Edmonton looked dead in the Florida swamp water after the Panthers jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period. But anyone who wrote the Oilers off after 20 minutes hasn’t been watching this team over the last several weeks.
The Oilers roared back in the middle frame, as Nugent-Hopkins, Nurse and Podkolzin all found the back of the net to bring their team level with the Panthers. Walman gave the Oilers a brief 4-3 lead with his goal at 13:36 of the third period, before Reinhart evened things up with just 20 seconds remaining.
When Draisaitl scored in overtime, it gave the Oilers their eighth comeback win of the 2025 Playoffs, and fourth multi-goal comeback victory. Edmonton also rallied to win Game 1 of this series, falling behind 3-1 before going on to win in overtime by a score of 4-3.
Game 4 marked just the seventh time in Stanley Cup Final history that a team won after trailing by three goals. Not since 1919 had a road team rallied from a three-goal deficit to win a Stanley Cup Final contest.
Game 4 Magic
There was another reason that made it foolish to count out the Oilers on Thursday night at Amerant Bank Arena: the game number.
This was the 10 consecutive Game 4 that the Oilers have won, a streak that spans the 2023, 2024, and 2025 NHL postseasons. The Oilers haven’t been defeated in Game 4 since the Western Conference Final in 2022, when they were swept by the Colorado Avalanche after falling 6-5 in overtime.
Edmonton’s previous Game 4 victories this year came against the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round (4-3 in overtime), the Vegas Golden Knights in Round 2 (3-0) and the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final (4-1).
Pickard to the Rescue
Skinner didn’t have a terrible first period by any means: the 26-year-old was under siege, facing 17 shots over 20 minutes. But Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch needed to spark his team and thus turned the net over to Pickard, who had a night for the ages, becoming just the sixth goalie to ever win a Stanley Cup Final game in relief.
What made Pickard’s performance so remarkable is that he’d played only 16:33 over the previous five weeks, and that also came in relief, on Monday (June 9) during the third period of Game 3, a 6-1 loss for the Oilers.
After backstopping Edmonton to its first six wins this postseason, Pickard was sidelined by an injury he sustained on May 8 against Vegas during Game 2 of Round 2 (which was also a 5-4 overtime victory with Draisaitl scoring the winner). Skinner has started every Oilers contest since, picking up seven wins along the way.
What Oilers fans are witnessing between the pipes is almost unprecedented. Only one other team in NHL history has had two goalies win at least seven games in the same postseason: the 2017 Pittsburgh Penguins, who won the Stanley Cup with the goaltending tandem of Marc Andre-Fleury (nine wins) and Matt Murray (seven wins).
All eyes now turn to Knoblauch to see which goalie he will deploy when Edmonton hosts Florida in the pivotal fifth game on Saturday (June 14) night at Rogers Place. The team that wins will be one win from the championship.
