No one would have pegged the Edmonton Oilers to steal one on the road against a gritty unit like the Florida Panthers. Instead, it ended up in another comeback victory for the Oilers, going back from 0-3 down to force OT and later win it to tie the Stanley Cup Final at 2-2 as the series returns to Edmonton once more.

As with his Game 1 heroics, Leon Draisaitl played hero as he drilled the dagger for the Western Conference champions. The forward pulled off a stunning shot at 11:18 of overtime, completing the fabled Edmonton comeback to undo all the progress for the first four games of the series. Now it is a best-of-three heading back into Edmonton, where the Oilers will have home-ice advantage for the rest of the way.

Fans at the Amerant Bank Arena were left stunned, while a small pocket of Oilers fans cheered out loud as they just saw their squad deny the Panthers a chance to get even closer to winning the Cup now more than ever. Now comes a crucial and pivotal Game 5 that will determine who will have the series advantage.

The Comeback Story

Matthew Tkachuk scored twice in a fast-paced first period for Florida – who was in control right from the opener and put up impressive attacks on Edmonton’s defense. Anton Lundell scored another goal at 19:18 with a wrist shot to make it a 3-0 lead. At that time, it looked like this was going to be another blowout for the Panthers as they had the same start in their Game 3 win.

However, the Oilers were undaunted this time. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored the first goal with a snap shot coming off assists from Draisaitl and Connor McDavid. Darnell Nurse would then cut the lead to 3-2 with another snap shot at 12:47 in the second. Edmonton wrapped up their massive rally with a backhand shot from Vasily Podkolzin at 15:05, tying the score at 3-3.

When no one expected it, Jake Walman found his way to score a slap shot at 13:36 of the third frame, giving Edmonton its first lead of the game. Fans were nervous for the rest of the game as the Oilers kept sending the puck back from the Panthers, and were even making close shots of their own to extend the lead.

However, Sam Reinhart managed to tie the game with just a few seconds left to play in the game. His wrist shot went in, and now it sent the game to overtime for extra minutes.

Another Heroic Day for Draisaitl

Neither team had the upper hand in the game, and it was a slugfest as both squads could not find a scoring groove that would see them win. After a flurry of aggressive attempts from the Oilers, Draisaitl only had one hand on his stick, and yet he managed to slide the puck right to the net from the right face-off circle.

Initially, the shot was off to begin with. However, it bounced right off the skate of Florida defenseman Niko Mikkola. That proved to be the winning deal as the buzzer lit up, signaling a stolen win by Edmonton – on the road.

This is now Draisaitl’s second game-winner in the Stanley Cup Final – both coming in overtime. He had a total of four in the postseason, and six in the regular season. By his standards, this clutch play was nothing out of the ordinary.