By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer
SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Falling behind three goals after 20 minutes, the Edmonton Oilers scored three of their own over the next 20 to erase their deficit. They took the lead, only to give up the tying goal to the Florida Panthers in the final seconds of regulation to send another game between the hockey heavyweights to overtime.
Riding the waves of emotion through what’s turning into an epic showdown in the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers beat the Panthers 5-4 in Game 4 on Thursday night to tie the series on Leon Draisaitl’s NHL playoff-record fourth OT goal.
“Games like that, it’s exhausting — it’s a roller coaster,” Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “Two good teams playing as hard as they are, playing the right way. Obviously with what’s on the line, it’s stressful. There’s a lot on the line, but it is fun and I think our guys are having fun, enjoying this moment.”
They’re enjoying it much more tied at two games apiece than they would have down 3-1 and on the brink of losing to Florida in the final for a second consecutive year. They go home to Western Canada for Game 5 on Saturday night all even.
“Better than it could have been, but obviously a long way to go,” said Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who scored the Oilers’ first goal in Game 4. “We’re just excited to get back home and play in front of our fans, and Saturday night is going to be pretty fun.”
Draisaitl’s goal 11:18 into OT — the fourth session of extra hockey between these teams — came after Jake Walman put Edmonton ahead with six minutes left in the third period and Sam Reinhart tied it for Florida with 19.5 seconds left.
“That’s what we do: We’re a resilient group,” said Draisaitl, who also scored to win Game 1 in OT. “We’re never going to quit no matter what. We’ll take it and go home.”
The Oilers became the first road team to rally from down three to win a game in the final since the Montreal Canadiens against the Seattle Metropolitans in 1919. Only six teams have come back from down three in the final, the last time in 2006.
Edmonton 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 backbreaker.
Knoblauch pulled Stuart Skinner after his starter 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, and he stopped the first 18 shots he faced with some more big saves coming in overtime before Draisaitl scored.
Pickard’s play paved the way for the once-in-a-century comeback, with Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin all scoring in the second. The Oilers held on, went ahead on Walman’s goal and dealt with more adversity when Reinhart sent it to overtime — the first final since 2013 with three of the first four games needing extra hockey and the fifth all time.
“There were chances everywhere,” Tkachuk said. “Both teams had good looks. I mean, one of their players it hits off a skate and hits the post. We got lucky there. It’s a game of inches.”
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl