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Edmonton’s Oilers equalized the Stanley Cup final with two games per song with a superb prolonged victory over the Florida Panthers, 5-4, at sunrise on Thursday. And the panthers did it in front of an audience of celebrities with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce highlighting the crowd.
Leon Draisaitl d’Edmonton scored the winning goal in overtime to crown a back and forth thriller. It was Draisaitl’s fourth goal in overtime in the Stanley Cup qualifiers, breaking the NHL record for the most part in a single qualifying series. Draisaitl also scored the winning goal in overtime in match 1.
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The center of Florida Panthers Aleksander Barkov (16) defends the EDMONTON RYAN NUGENT-HOPKINS (93) Oilers Center during the first period of Stanley Cup Hockey CUP on Thursday, June 12, 2025 of the NHL. (AP photo / Lynne Sladky)
Oilers have overcome an early deficit of three goals in the most dramatic game of the series so far.
The panthers took a 3-0 lead in the first period on two goals from Matthew Tkachuk and one by Anton Lundell.
But the oilers took less than a period to link it, with three goals from Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Vasily Podkolzin and Darnell Nurse in the second.
The defender of the oilers struck a fine of $ 10,000 after the fight of the Stanley Cup
Edmonton’s Oilers goalkeeper Stuart Skinner made a stop against Florida’s panthers during the first period of match 4 of the NHL hockey cup in Sunrise, Florida, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press via AP)
Then, the game froze, the teams playing in a dead end in the third period. This impasse lasted more than half of the third period until the defender of the Oilers, Jake Walman, finally broke the draw with a goal with a little less than 7 minutes to do in regulations.
And then, with less than 20 seconds to go, the Panthers equaled it on a dramatic goal from Sam Reinhart, sending the match to overtime.
Neither of the two teams made the first 11 minutes of the additional period, but Draisaitl pierced to freeze the game and even up the series at 8:42.
The Vasily Podkolzin (92) by Edmonton Oilers famous after his goal with Corey Perry (90) and Leon Draisaitl (29 years old) as Niko Mikkola by Florida Panthers (77) in the final of the NHL Hockey NHL Cup in Sunrise, in fla., Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Nathan Denette / The Canadian Press via AP)
The series returns to Edmonton with match 5 on Saturday.
