It was a comeback for the ages.
The visiting Edmonton Oilers rallied from a 3-0 deficit after the first period to beat the Florida Panthers 5-4 in overtime on Thursday, tying the Stanley Cup Final at 2-2.
Leon Draisaitl scored the overtime winner, his second OT goal of the series.
It was the third overtime game in this year’s Cup Final. The Panthers crushed the Oilers 6-1 in the only non-overtime game in Game 3.
Edmonton became the first road team since the 1919 Montreal Canadiens to come back from a 3-0 hole and win a Stanley Cup Final game. The Habs did it against the Seattle Metropolitans.
With goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky pulled for an extra attacker, Florida’s Sam Reinhart tied it at 4-4 with 19.5 seconds left, sending it to overtime. The goal, at 19:40, was the second-latest tying goal in Cup Final history. The record was set in Game 2 when Edmonton’s Corey Perry tied it at 19:42.
Defenceman Jake Walman gave the Oilers their first lead of Game 4 — 4-3 — with 6:24 left in the third period.
Matthew Tkachuk opened the scoring with a pair of power-play goals and Anton Lundell gave the Panthers a 3-0 lead prior to the end of the first period.
At the break, Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch replaced goaltender Stuart Skinner with Calvin Pickard for the second game in a row.
The Oilers responded with a much-improved second period.
After Edmonton took the only three minor penalties in the first, Florida was called for the first three infractions in the second.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins cut the deficit to 3-1 with a power-play goal before Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin scored to tie it at 3-3 after 40 minutes.
Game 5 is Saturday in Edmonton.
