Stanley Cup Final Game Four: Eins, Zwei, Drai(saitl), Vier

In Game Three of the Stanley Cup Final, the Edmonton Oilers were absolutely punched in the mouth by the Florida Panthers--literally and figuratively. A 6-1 Panthers victory, the Oilers' first horrific performance of this year's playoffs since Game Two of Round 1. An argument could be made that the Oilers needed this. They needed a bad game to really focus and get back to basics. Would it work? Would the Oilers rebound from their horrible defeat?

Sergei Bobrovsky was in net against Stuart Skinner, and the first period was all Panthers from the get-go. They dominated the shots from jumpstreet, and it was at the midpoint of the period that the first penalty was called. With Evander Kane in the sin bin, the Panthers went on a power play that became a 5-on-3 when Darnell Nurse joined Kane. On the two-man advantage, Matthew Tkachuk made it 1-0 for the Panthers, with Aleksandar Barkov assisting. Panthers continued to dominate in shots, they received another power play, and then, it was 2-0. Tkachuk again. Barkov and Sam Reinhart assisting. Edmonton was starting to get some shots going, but at the final minute, Anton Lundell scored. Reinhart and Carter Verhaeghe assisted.

It's 3-0 Panthers after 20 minutes. Stuart Skinner was done for the night. Talking heads were talking "three-peat," even though Florida's attempt to repeat was only one period into Game Four. This game was over.

Emphasis on was.

Second period started with Calvin Pickard in net, and just over three minutes in, Edmonton received their first power play. It cashes in, as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins--the longtime Oiler stalwart--put the Oilers on the board. The dynamic duo, Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, assisted. Oilers continued to press and try to get another. It would take an additional nine minutes, but they would do it. Darnell Nurse cut Edmonton's deficit to one goal, with Mattias Ekholm and Adam Henrique assisting. So the Oilers had momentum, but there was no way they could tie this up, right? Well, Vasily Podkolzin had something to say about that. At 15:05, barely over two minutes after Nurse's goal, Podkolzin ties it up. Nurse and Draisaitl assisted. There it was. However, Florida received a power play late in the period. It spread out in to the third period, and was knocked off.

The third period felt like overtime, especially after the rest of the Florida PP was killed off. Then, the Oilers received a power play. A good opportunity to get the lead for the first time. It was a well played PP. McDavid had a great chance that missed, but the PP was killed off. It looked like overtime was on the horizon at that point, but Jake Walman suddenly shot the puck past Bobrovsky and in. The Oilers took the lead for the first time, with just over six minutes left. The time continue to pass, and it definitely looked like we'd have an even series at that point, even with the extra attacker on. However, with 20 seconds left in regulation, Sam Reinhart scored. Holy moley!

In their 2024 Cup Final matchup, there was no overtime at all in the seven-game series. Four games into the rematch, and we have overtime for the third game in this Final. It was a close period, but the big close call came from Sam Bennett, whose shot was thought to be saved, but it merely hit the crossbar and out. Pickard did have a game-saving save later on, and afterwards, the puck ended up with Draisaitl, whose shot managed to get past Bobrovsky. I had thought that it was Corey Perry who put it in, but it was Draisaitl who did it yet again!

The Edmonton Oilers won Game Four, 5-4, in overtime, and for the fourth time in this run, it was Leon Draisaitl. The four OT goals in the single postseason from Draisaitl is a new NHL record, and capped off a three-point performance in this outing. They were down 3-0 and the game was seemingly over. The Oilers climbed out of that hole and managed to win it, doing so with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce among the many others in attendance. Regarding the shots, it was 17-7 Panthers in the first, 17-10 Oilers in the second, 9-7 Panthers in the third, and in the overtime, four shots each. Pickard gets the win in relief with 22 saves out of 23 shots he faced in the 31:18 he was in the net. As for Draisaitl, he's definitely the frontrunner for the Conn Smythe on the Edmonton side, and it's not even close--even McDavid (who is still looking for his first goal in this series) isn't really in the running.

So for the first time since 2019, we have a 2-2 Cup Final after four games. The Cup Final has now become a best-of-three. This is the 30th best-of-seven Cup Final to end up 2-2 after four games. In the past 29 such series, the winner of Game Five in that scenario has gone on to win the Cup Final 22 of those times. Fun fact: one of the seven teams who lost despite winning Game Five? The Devils in 2001. I said before this series started that sequels are better than the original, and this year's Cup Final definitely proves that statement to be true.

Game Five is Saturday in Edmonton.

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