Down Bad Oilers Shake It Off in Game 4 win over Panthers

Sweeter than Fiction.

That’s what Thursday night’s Game 4 felt like for the Edmonton Oilers, who wrote The Manuscript, which has never been seen before, becoming the first team in Stanley Cup Final history to overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a game.

It’s one that was almost hard to see coming to fruition. While Connor McDavid had the Oilers buzzing with his first shift of the game, it didn’t take long for them to realize Everything Has Changed.

A parade to the penalty box in the first frame ended up costing the Oilers, as Evander Kane would commit a high-stick and Darnell Nurse a lazy trip, sending the Panthers to an early 5-on-3 advantage. Matthew Tkachuk would break open the scoring on it, and with Mattias Ekholm in the box five minutes later, he would beat Stuart Skinner for a second time.

The Oilers were Haunted more when Anton Lundell would score in the final minute of the first.

“We wanted to come out strong tonight. They put us on our heels early and we’re kind of lollygagging around a little bit,” said Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, who would end up scoring the game winner in overtime. “Certainly not the time to lollygag around, right? Especially after getting spanked in Game 3.”

But it was a first intermission speech from Oilers veteran Corey Perry who helped Sparks Fly for the team.

And heading into the second period, with pop superstar Taylor Swift and NFL playing boyfriend Travis Kelce in the crowd, the Oilers had an Epiphany — they remembered that if they keep their game simple, they can hang with the Panthers.

So, coupled with a goaltending change that saw Calvin Pickard enter the game, that’s what they did.

Evan Bouchard got a partial breakaway, drawing a slashing call on Sam Bennett and the power play got to work. A banged-up Ryan Nugent-Hopkins would start Edmonton’s run of three goals, picking the top shelf on Sergei Bobrovsky 3:33 into the second, while Nurse would tickle twine his own nine minutes later. And a greasy goal from Vasily Podkolzin would even it up by the time the second was over.

The two teams traded chances in the third before Jake Walman, tickling the rafters with the toe of his stick as he called for a pass, wired one past Bobrovsky with six and a half minutes to go.

The Panthers pushed, only for Sam Reinhart to send the game to overtime with 19.5 seconds left in regulation, scoring the second-latest tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history, bested only by Perry’s with 18 seconds left in Game 2 of this series.

Chaos continued as both teams had their looks, perhaps none better than Panthers centre Sam Bennett, who fired a one-time shot that Pickard got just enough of to keep the two teams playing. Minutes later, the game would be decided.

It was far from Clean, but just over 11 minutes into overtime, the Oilers broke out, as Podkolzin would float a pass to Draisaitl, who with only one hand, was able to find the Blank Space between Bobrovsky’s pads. Game, set, match.

What Do You Say of how Draisaitl is able to show up in the biggest moments, Podkolzin was asked?

“Because he’s one of the best players in the world. That’s why.”

Well said.

Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch, however, put it more eloquently.

“I don’t know what could be said that really conveys what he brings to our team,” said Knoblauch. “Not only leadership, but the play, and he’s just elevated his game in the toughest moments. How many overtime goals has he scored? Even the one in Vegas that Kapanen scored, he was involved in that, he had a big part in that.

“He knew that if we have an opportunity to get back in this series and change the momentum, our best players have to step up and play well, and I believe all our best players did that tonight.”

The Oilers stepped up when it mattered most, and now, they know All Too Well they can’t have the same 10 Minute Version they had in Game 4 come out in Game 5.

With the series returning to Edmonton’s Rogers Place Saturday night, a strong start to the game is going to be The 1 they look for most with this series becoming a best-of-three.