Oilers rally in 2nd period, go to 3rd tied 3-3 with Panthers in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final

By Canadian Press on June 12, 2025.

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final was all tied up with at least a period left after the Edmonton Oilers scored three goals in the second against the Florida Panthers on Thursday night.

The Panthers — up 2-1 in the series — led 3-0 after the first on two goals from Matthew Tkachuk and another with 41.7 seconds left before intermission, outshooting Edmonton 17-7 and taking advantage of their penalty trouble that put them on the power play.

Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch replaced goaltender Stuart Skinner with backup Calvin Pickard to start the second. Allowing three goals, Skinner was pulled for a second consecutive start after giving up five in a 6-1 loss in Game 3 on Monday night.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin all beat Sergei Bobrovsky to make it 3-3. Edmonton’s Evan Bouchard left the bench after taking a hit from behind from Carter Verhaeghe late in the period that went unpenalized.

Florida has never blown a 3-0 lead in franchise postseason history.

The Panthers looked relaxed in their practices and skates ahead of Game 4, upbeat on the ice and downplaying the gravity of the situation when asked about it.

“I feel like every game’s so big during this time,” Lundell said. “The stakes gets higher. Everybody wants to win. But we both know for both teams it’s a big game, and we want to be good.”

The Panthers are nearing full strength at a time of year usually known for players gutting through injuries, with Paul Maurice saying Sam Reinhart is back healthy and Tkachuk looks like he is rounding into form. The Oilers are missing Zach Hyman because of his playoff-ending wrist injury, and Nugent-Hopkins is dealing with an undisclosed ailment.

That discrepancy could make a difference in their Cup final rematch. One thing that is the same is Florida locking in and normalizing pressure situations like this.

“Our approach, it’s pretty similar the entire playoffs,” said Bennett, who leads all scorers this postseason with 14 goals. “Whether it’s Game 1 or Game 7, we play the same style. We play just as hard. We’re not sitting back, so we really are not going to be changing anything in this next game or any other games to come.”

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Stephen Whyno, The Associated Press

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