Oilers Defeat Panthers in Game 4 of Stanley Cup Final

Everything was going right for the defending Stanley Cup champions until it wasn't.

The Florida Panthers staked out to a 3-0 lead in the first period and it looked like they were going to blow out the Edmonton Oilers.

Edmonton then pulled goalie Stuart Skinner and inserted backup goalie Calvin Pickard and the tides turned. Pickard made some big saves and kept the Oilers in the game.

The Oilers then scored four consecutive goals and defeated the Panthers in overtime 5-4 in Sunrise, Florida. It was the first time in Stanley Cup Final history that a team blew a 3-0 first period lead and lost.

Oilers center Leon Draisaitl scored the game winning goal. Draisaitl is the first player in NHL history to score four overtime goals in a single postseason. He also scored the overtime winner in Game 1.

Florida's Matthew Tkachuk scored two goals in the first period and Anton Lundell added another as the Panthers took a 3-0 lead into the locker room during the first intermission.

Edmonton came out smoking and tied the game at 3 before Jake Walman scored with 6:24 remaining in regulation to give the Oilers their first lead of the game at 4-3.

Sam Reinhart of the Panthers scored with less than 20 seconds remaining to tie the game at 4 apiece and send the game into overtime.

In the overtime period Draisaitl had a miraculous one-handed shot that deflected off of Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola. He had two defenders on him and threw the puck at the net, it caught Mikkola and changed direction and trickled in past Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky.

Reinhart had a chance to win it for Florida several minutes before Draisaitl's heroics, but his wrist shot hit the crossbar as Pickard was caught out of position. The Panthers will have to regroup and put this game behind them as the Oilers did Monday night when they lost 6-1.

The big difference in the game was the Oilers playing hard, but not committing the penalties they committed in Game 3. They stayed out of the penalty box and did not give Florida many power plays. It was Florida who surrendered penalties and gave Edmonton the advantage more often than they would have liked.

This sets up a best of three series as the Oilers regain home-ice advantage. The teams will play on Saturday night in Edmonton. The puck will drop at 8 p.m. ET.