Oilers’ Game 4 comeback could be the stuff of legend on their path to Stanley Cup

SUNRISE, Fla. — There are games in the history of the Stanley Cup Final that are not easily forgotten.

If the Edmonton Oilers go on to win two more games and end Canada’s 32-year Cup drought, everyone will remember where they were on June 12, 2025.

What a freaking game.

A 3-0 Florida Panthers lead after the first period. A timely Edmonton goalie switch. Four unanswered goals by the Oilers. Sam Reinhart ties it with 19.5 seconds left, throwing more adversity at Edmonton. And finally, in the magical moment, it was lead-by-example Leon Draisaitl winning it 11:18 into overtime.

Bonkers.

Never mind what was said. The look on the faces of Oilers players as they made their way around the dressing room after the game Thursday night spoke a thousand words.

This might have been the moment that changed everything. Maybe. Just maybe.

Edmonton’s season was not on the line, but for the purpose of believing in its chances of winning the Cup, it felt like it was. That’s exactly how the Oilers felt entering the second period.

“Oh, yeah, it sure does,” said Darnell Nurse, who scored to make it 3-2 in the second period. “The desperation of the playoffs is high; the desperation of the Stanley Cup finals is another level. We needed to bring our desperation up in the second period, and we found a way to do that. That’s got to continue.”

It certainly couldn’t have started any worse on this night for Edmonton: penalty trouble again, lackluster play, getting thrashed for a fourth consecutive period dating to the start of Game 3, and it felt like the series was announcing itself as all but done.

And yet …

“Just no panic at all,” Jake Walman said of the scene in the dressing room after those miserable 20 minutes. “It was almost strange. It was quiet confidence … and knowing that, as a team, we were going to come back in this game. There was no doubt about it, I think, from our group.”

Well, the Oilers are the comeback kings, after all. Make it eight comeback wins in these playoffs, matching a franchise record.

“We all understand that it’s never over with this group,” superstar Connor McDavid said earlier in the series.

Perhaps, but it helped getting yelled at by the old goat. The first intermission featured an address from 40-year-old winger Corey Perry to his teammates. Wake up, boys.

“Just get to work; honestly, that was the message,” Nurse said of Perry’s speech. “The tone might have been a little different (smiles). But just, ‘Let’s put our heads down and get to work.’”

As Draisaitl put it, when Perry speaks, the whole room becomes attentive.

“He’s a guy that’s been in these moments. He’s not a guy that speaks up or yells at guys all the time; that’s not his character,” Draisaitl said. “So you know when a guy like that, with that many games and that much experience, he’s won everything there is to win, he knows how to win; when he speaks up, you listen. And it grabs your attention.”

The Oilers are a veteran team; they’ve played a ton of playoff games over the past few years. What can they possibly hear from Perry that they’ve never heard before?

“It’s probably not that we haven’t heard it before; it’s more so the fact that it had to be said in that moment,” said Nurse.

“He’s a guy that everybody in that room respects so much; he’s been through it all,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said. “So when he speaks up like that, it means a lot. And we did a good job responding.”

That this comeback happened against the NHL’s greatest closers underlines the drama Thursday night. The Panthers entered the Stanley Cup 31-0 under head coach Paul Maurice when leading after the first or second period in the playoffs over the last three years. The Oilers have now dropped two comeback wins on Florida in this series alone.

Let’s not sugarcoat it. The Oilers looked cooked after 20 minutes. There was zero evidence on display to suggest a 5-4 overtime win was remotely in the cards.

“Once again, it shows you that our group never quits, right?,” Draisaitl said. “We believe that no matter how bad it is, if we get over that hump of adversity, we’re going to keep pushing, we’re going to keep coming, we’re going to keep coming. Eventually, it’ll break.

“We don’t want to be in these situations too many times, but when they happen, I think we’re great at it.”

Game 4 also put the quality of this Stanley Cup Final back on track. Three overtime games. Two juggernaut teams slugging it out. The Panthers looked unbeatable after Game 3. Now we’re wondering how rattled they might be after Game 4.

Back and forth it goes. Sensational drama.

“Best two out of three. It’s great for the fans,” Maurice said after the game. “Truly, I felt this way about the series last year: I think it’s great for the game.”

The Oilers have two of the next three games at home. The Panthers are the road kings. This thing can still go so many ways.

But what’s apparent again is just how uncomfortable both teams are making each other at different times. It’s incredible theatre.

“I think we focus on sometimes the mistakes that get made by good players at times, and you miss some of the heart and soul, the intensity of it,” Maurice said. “It’s so fast. Every board battle, everything can turn into something, so there’s a tension because both teams can score. From my point of view, there’s been phenomenal goaltending in this series. The numbers say I’m lying, the final score says I’m lying, but the goaltending’s been incredible, because the game can break on a slot pass to Sam Bennett, crack a bar. I mean, those are the ones that, just, everything is dangerous all the time.

“So there’s a mental intensity, mental toughness both teams show. The game’s not going to be over until it is. You get three and four games in a final into overtime, you’ve got two really good, evenly matched teams.”

The Oilers, meanwhile, can breathe again. Game 4 was essentially a must-win. It was delivered in an unforgettable manner.

“A long way to go. We’re just excited to get back home and play in front of those fans,” Nugent-Hopkins said. “Saturday night is going to be pretty fun.”

It’s going to be mayhem at Rogers Place. Just like this series has been throughout.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.