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Oilers may have shifted series with stunning Game 4 comeback
Edmonton Oilers center Leon Draisaitl (29) celebrates scoring in overtime against the Florida Panthers in Game 4 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena. Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Stanley Cup Final takeaways: Oilers may have shifted series with stunning comeback

The Edmonton Oilers tied the Stanley Cup Final at two games apiece on Thursday night with a stunning 5-4 win in Game 4 that saw them erase a 3-0 deficit. Leon Draisaitl made some history with the overtime winning goal, sending the series back to Edmonton tied. 

Here are some key takeaways from Edmonton's big win:

Edmonton may have shifted momentum

First thing's first: Edmonton needed this win, badly. Even with two potential home games remaining (Games 5 and 7), it was going to be awfully difficult to come back from a 3-1 series deficit against this Florida team. 

Not only did the Oilers get the much-needed win, they got the win by overcoming a 3-0 first-period deficit to take the lead in the third, and then bounced back after allowing the game-tying goal with less than 20 seconds to play in regulation.

At either of those points, the game — and series — could have easily started to slip away from the Oilers, especially after losing back-to-back games in Games 2 and 3 and getting absolutely dominated in the latter. But the Oilers not only refused to let that happen, they may have shifted the momentum in their favor as the series goes back to Edmonton for a pivotal Game 5.

Leon Draisaitl makes history

Draisaitl is one of Edmonton's two main superstars — along with Connor McDavid — and has not only been a top-scorer in the playoffs, he has also been incredibly clutch in big moments. 

And he is doing so at an historic pace.

His game-winning goal on Thursday was his fourth overtime goal of this year's playoffs, setting an NHL record for most overtime goals in a single postseason. 

He is also just the third player to ever score two overtime goals in a single Stanley Cup Final series. 

Who starts in goal for Edmonton in Game 5?

That is going to be the big question for Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch going into Game 5 this weekend.

Stuart Skinner reclaimed the starting job after briefly losing it early in the postseason, and was playing some of his best hockey. That started to change in the Game 3 loss, and after giving up three goals in the first period on Thursday, he found himself back on the bench in favor of backup Calvin Pickard. 

Along with stopping 22-of-23 shots in relief, including a huge save on Sam Bennett in overtime, Pickard is now 7-0 this postseason when he is the goalie of record.

It would be awfully difficult for the Oilers to overlook that, as well as his performance with the game — and potentially the series — on the line on Thursday. 

This series is setting up to be a classic

Last year's series between the Panthers and Oilers certainly had its share of drama after Edmonton erased a 3-0 series deficit to force a Game 7 (ultimately won by Florida). But while it had that late series drama, the series itself did not seem to have the same energy and excitement as this year's. 

This series has already had three overtime games within the first four games of the series, and outside of Florida's Game 3 blowout win, every game has been as intense and close as you could hope for from a championship series.

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on Twitter @AGretz

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