What do Darnell Nurse and Calvin Pickard have in common with Hall of Famers Newsy Lalonde and Georges Vezina? They’re some of the only players to help stage a three-goal comeback in the Stanley Cup Final.
Edmonton Oilers fans can party like it’s 1919, as their team staged as uncommon a rally as it gets in Game 4 of the Cup Final against the Florida Panthers, coming back from down 3-0 to prevail 5-4 in overtime and even up the series at two apiece on Thursday.
The last time the feat had been accomplished in the Cup Final was in Game 5 of the 1919 series between the Montreal Canadiens and the Seattle Metropolitans.
Thursday’s game looked all but over for the Oilers, as the Panthers pounced early with three first-period goals courtesy of Anton Lundell and a brace from Matthew Tkachuk.
But Edmonton is one of two teams left standing for a reason. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got the party started for the Oilers three minutes into the second period, then Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin followed it up midway through the frame to even the game up at three.
A goal from Jake Walman in the third looked to be the game-winner for Edmonton, but a response from Sam Reinhart with 19 seconds to go in the third sent the game to overtime.
But the Oilers, and specifically Leon Draisaitl, would not be shut down, as the forward scored just over 11 minutes into overtime to win it for Edmonton.
He followed the lead of Jack McDonald, who netted the overtime winner for the Canadiens 106 years ago.
On that fateful day on March 29, 1919, though the Canadiens managed to win the game 4-3 in overtime, they didn’t wind up winning the Stanley Cup. But neither did Seattle. Unfortunately, the series was suspended due to an outbreak of Spanish Flu.
As the Oilers and Panthers await Game 5, they’ll hope to stay in better health to prevent history from repeating itself.
