Stanley Cup live updates: Draisaitl scores Game 4 winner for Oilers in OT

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse, Vasily Podkolzin, Jake Walman and Leon Draisaitl scored to give the Edmonton Oilers a 5-4 overtime win in Game 4.

Edmonton Oilers star Leon Draisaitl scored in overtime for the fourth time this playoffs to lift his team over the Florida Panthers 5-4 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Thursday night in Sunrise, Fla.

The victory ties the series at two games a piece.

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The Oilers were down 3-0 after the first period and erased the deficit in the second period before taking the lead in the third on a Jake Walman goal with 6:24 left in regulation time.

But with their net empty for an extra attacker, Sam Reinhart tied the game at 4-4 with 19.5 seconds left in the third, sending the game to overtime.

It was the third overtime game of the series.

Game stats

• Shots: Panthers 40, Oilers 35
• Scoring chances: Panthers 57% (28-21, +7), Oilers 43% (21-28, -7)
• High-danger scoring chances: Panthers 50% (16-16, 0), Oilers 50% (16-16, 0)
• Fenwick % (unblocked shot attempts): Panthers 51.8% (43-40, +3), Oilers 48.2% (40-43, -3)
• Face-off %: Oilers 50%, Panthers 50%
• Power play %: Panthers 50% (2/4), Oilers 25% (1/4)
• Penalty minutes: Oilers 8, Panthers 8
• Hits: Panthers 34, Oilers 25
• Blocked shots: Oilers 28, Panthers 13
• Giveaways: Oilers 12, Panthers 1
• Takeaways: Panthers 5, Oilers 0

9:37 p.m. - Draisaitl shovels in winner

On a night when he lost the league’s MVP award, Leon Draisaitl wins the game for the Oilers after he shovels the puck past Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky 11:18 into overtime. Oilers win 5-4 to tie the series 2-2.

9:16 p.m. - 3rd intermission thoughts

• What a clash of the titans we’re witnessing tonight;
• Much of the third period was a continuation of the Oilers’ dominance of the second, although you could see the Panthers wake up late in the frame before they pulled goalie Sergei Bobrovsky with about 2:30 left on the clock;
• I’ll be interested to see who grabs momentum to start overtime.

9:07 p.m. - Overtime after Reinhart ties it late

San Reinhart takes advantage of a stumbling Calvin Pickard in the Oilers’ goal to score for the Panthers with 19.5 seconds left in the third period to tie the game 4-4. Florida and Edmonton will play overtime for the third time in four games.

8:50 p.m. - Oilers take lead

Oilers defenceman Jake Walman scores after Mattias Ekholm forces the Panthers to cough up the puck in front of their goal, with Kasperi Kapanen feeding it to Walman, who fires it past goalie Sergei Bobrovsky for the Oilers’ first lead of the game. 4-3 Edmonton with 6:24 left in the third period.

8:42 p.m. - RNH leaves bench

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leaves the Oilers bench, presumably heading to the trainer’s room 9:33 into the third period. Update: He returned to action.

8:10 p.m. - 2nd intermission thoughts

• A ha, so there is a switch the Oilers can flip...
• Once Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on the power play early in the second period, the Oilers came roaring to life after a meandering first that saw the Panthers take a 3-0 lead;
• Goals by Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin are the result of the Oilers dominating play and controlling the puck;
• Connor McDavid almost scored on a deft deke around Panthers defenceman Aaron Ekblad but can’t tuck it under goalie Sergei Bobrovsky;
• The Oilers outshot the Panthers 17-10 in the second, bringing the shot totals through two period to Oilers 24, Panthers 27;

8:01 p.m. - What a save by Ekholm

Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm blocks a shot by Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk with 1:20 left in the second period with Oilers goalie Calvin Pickard well out of position, preventing a certain Florida goal.

7:55 p.m. - Podkolzin ties it up

Darnell Nurse factors big for the second Oilers goal in a row, throwing the puck from behind the net into the slot, where forward Vasily Podkolzin swipes it past Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky 15:05 into the second period to tie the game 3-3.

7:48 p.m. - Nurse cuts Panthers lead to 1

Oilers defenceman Darnell Nurse puts the puck over the shoulder of crouching goalie Sergei Bobrovsky 12:47 into the second period to make the score 3-2 Panthers.

7:45 p.m. - Pickard stops breakaway chance

After Oilers defenceman Jake Walman coughs up the puck in the slot, goalie Calvin Pickard stops Panthers forward Anton Lundell blockerside on a breakaway.

7:43 p.m. - Oilers press after RNH goal

The Oilers have new life after Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on the power play. Halfway through the second period, Edmonton has outshot Florida 9-1 in the frame and has looked more engaged.

7:29 p.m. - RNH scores on PP

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gets the Oilers on the scoresheet 3:33 into the second period, putting the puck behind Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky 19 seconds after Sam Bennett took a high-sticking penalty. The goal comes just after Evan Bouchard missed high on a breakaway chance for Edmonton. 3-1 Panthers lead.

7:22 p.m. - Pickard replaces Skinner

Calvin Pickard replaces Stuart Skinner in the Oilers’ goal to start the second period. Skinner stopped 14 of 17 shots in the first.

7:06 p.m. - 1st intermission thoughts

Deja vu, anyone? The first period was practically a play-for-play remake of last game’s first period. The Oilers take penalties, the Panthers score. The Oilers cough up the puck, the Panthers take advantage and score.

7:02 p.m. - Panthers go up 3-0

With 42 seconds left in the first period, Panthers forward Anton Lundell scores after Carter Verhaege retrieves the puck from Oilers defenceman Troy Stecher behind the net and feeds a waiting Lundell in the slot.

6:57 p.m. - Tkachuk scores again

Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk scores his second power-play goal of the game 16:56 into the first period with Oilers defenceman Mattias Ekholm in the penalty box after taking a high-sticking penalty. It was the Oilers’ third straight penalty to start the game, echoing what happened in Game 3. 2-0 Panthers lead.

6:52 p.m. - Perry back on 1st Oilers line

Corey Perry, who started the game on the Oilers’ fourth forward line, replaces Connor Brown on the first line alongside Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. The 40-year-old winger and Nugent-Hopkins get the Oilers’ best chances to score about 15 minutes into the first period on a goal-mouth scramble created off a McDavid shot and rebound.

6:45 p.m. - Panthers score 5-on-3

Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk scores on the power play 11:36 into the first period, four seconds into Darnell Nurse’s tripping penalty that put the Oilers two players down.

6:41 p.m. - Kane takes a penalty

Oilers forward Evander Kane gets his stick in the face of Panthers counterpart A.J. Greer at 10:38 of the first period, taking a two-minute minor for high-sticking.

6:39 p.m. - Panthers controlling play

There’s no score 10 minutes into the first period, with the Panthers leading on the shot clock 10-2 and in high-danger chances 4-1.

6:25 p.m. - Spectacular early saves

Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner makes two highlight stops a minute 41 seconds into the game, getting his left pad on an Evan Rodrigues shot before Sam Bennett one-times the rebound, only for a sliding Skinner to get his blocker on it.

6:23 p.m. - Puck drops in Sunrise, Fla.

Connor McDavid faces off with Sam Bennett to start Game 4.

5:08 p.m. - Draisaitl loses out on Hart

Connor Hellebuyck won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most-valuable player on Thursday, finishing ahead of Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov in voting by members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association. Hellebuyck, who stars in net for the Winnipeg Jets, also claimed the Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goalie.

3:42 p.m. - Oilers shuffle lineup

• Head coach Kris Knoblauch said Thursday morning after the team’s pre-game skate that forward Jeff Skinner and defenceman Troy Stecher will draw into the Oilers’ lineup for Game 4, replacing Viktor Arvidsson and John Klingberg, respectively.
• Stuart Skinner, who was pulled from the Oilers’ 6-1 loss in Game 3 after allowing five goals on 23 shots, will start again in goal.

Heading in

It’s not exactly do-or-die, but it might as well be.

Games 4 are always pivotal in the playoffs because one team is faced with going down three games to one in the best-of-seven series, which almost always results in that side losing.

The Edmonton Oilers are that team heading into Thursday’s Stanley Cup Game 4 (6 p.m. MT) against the Florida Panthers, having lost the previous two games to be down two games to one in the rematch of last year’s final.

If the Oilers win, the series is tied and they regain home-ice advantage in a best-of-three scenario. Lose and they face long odds of coming back: just nine per cent of NHL teams who’ve gone down three games to one have come back to win the next three and take the series.