Stanley Cup Final: Panthers-Oilers Game 4 grades, takeaways

South Florida is the sort of place where bizarre doesn’t just live, it thrives. Jake Walman, who was fined for squirting water in Game 3, scored what appeared to be the game-winning goal for the Edmonton Oilers in the third period … only for Sam Reinhart to score for the Florida Panthers with 20 seconds left in regulation … before Leon Draisaitl scored the actual game winner in overtime to give Edmonton a 5-4 win and tie the Stanley Cup Final at 2-2.

Game 4 was so erratic that even Florida Man likely thought it was too much. Exactly how hectic are we talking? How about the Panthers opening with a 3-0 lead in the first period, only to see the Oilers pull Stuart Skinner, replace him with Calvin Pickard and then score three goals of their own in the second period.

That set the stage for a defensive deadlock in the third that appeared to first be broken when Walman scored with 6:24 left, only to have Florida even the score. Draisaitl finished the job for Edmonton in overtime.

At this point, you know the drill. Ryan S. Clark and Kristen Shilton take a look at what worked and what didn’t for each team, while identifying which players to watch in Game 5 and pondering the big questions for the Oilers and the Panthers come Saturday.

Is the conversation after Game 4 more about the comeback — or what forced the Oilers to need to come back in the first place?

After the Oilers allowed two goals in each period of Game 3, they allowed three in the first period of Game 4. In total, the first period marked the sixth time in the first 10 periods of this series that the Panthers have come away with multiple goals. That’s what forced Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch and his staff to make a quick adjustment to avoid a disaster similar to Game 3.

Knoblauch’s decision to remove Skinner to start the second led to Pickard stopping all 10 shots he faced in the frame. It helped that the Oilers went from a 38.4% shot share in the first to a 55.6% shot share in the second, resulting in three goals. It was just their second multigoal period during the Cup Final.

Everything was going so well in the third. Their defensive structure allowed eight combined high-danger scoring chances in the second and third period, a contrast from the seven they allowed in the first alone. To be 20 seconds away from tying the series all while the Panthers had a shot share that was greater than 60%? That’s what made Reinhart’s goal so disheartening.

But in the end, Draisaitl’s game winner drew the Oilers level entering Game 5 on Saturday. — Clark

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Leon Draisaitl scores OT winner for Oilers in Game 4

Leon Draisaitl notches the game-winning goal with this one-handed effort in a pulsating Game 4 that levels the series for Oilers.

The Panthers tried to call game in the first period. And, briefly, it looked like they succeeded. They pounced early with a pair of Matthew Tkachuk power-play goals (his first points of the Cup Final), and Anton Lundell added insult to Oilers’ injury by extending Florida’s lead to three with just 41 seconds left in the first period — a 20-minute frame where the Panthers outshot Edmonton 17-7 and outchanced them 21-5. Florida’s furious forecheck once again appeared to flummox the Oilers.

But Edmonton made a goalie change to start the second, and their karma shifted along with it. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (on the power play), Darnell Nurse and Vasily Podkolzin erased all of Florida’s first-period work and put the Panthers on their heels.

And Pickard had Florida’s number in net, keeping the Panthers’ deep well of offensive threats from finding an equalizer until 20 seconds were left in regulation and Reinhart found an opening.

Florida’s eventual loss in extra time felt stunning. The Panthers’ uncharacteristic mistakes — players caught below the goal line, losing track of assignments, turnovers — ultimately doomed them in a game they were on track to win handily. Now all that matters is how they rebound in the quick turnaround to Game 5. — Shilton

Arda Öcal’s Three Stars of Game 4

Draisaitl set the record for most overtime goals in a single postseason, with four — after setting the record for most overtime goals in the regular season. He is the third player in Stanley Cup Final history with multiple OT goals in a single series — along with Don Raleigh in 1950 with the New York Rangers vs. the Detroit Red Wings and John LeClair in 1993 with the Montreal Canadiens vs. the Los Angeles Kings.

After coming in to relieve Skinner, Pickard proceeded to make 22 saves on 23 shots (the lone goal coming in the final minute of regulation with Florida’s net empty). Pickard is the first goaltender to win a Stanley Cup Final game in relief since 2015, when Andrei Vasilevskiy played 9:13 in relief of injured Ben Bishop. Pickard is also the fourth goalie to win seven straight decisions in the playoffs who didn’t start his team’s first game of the postseason, joining Chris Osgood (2008), Jacques Plante (1969) and Cam Ward (2006).

Tkachuk scored his first two goals of the Cup Final to open the game up quickly for Florida. This was also the first time Tkachuk has scored two goals in a Cup Final game. His fifth career playoff power-play goal set a franchise record.

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Matthew Tkachuk scores again to make it 2-0 Panthers

Matthew Tkachuk doubles the Panthers’ lead, again scoring on the power play against the Oilers in Game 4.

Honorable mention: This series!

This Cup Final has been incredibly entertaining. Between two overtime games, a blowout and dueling three-goal periods in Game 4, there has been no shortage of drama and intrigue in this Cup Final rematch. This series is the third in NHL history to see at least seven total goals in the first four games (1980 and 1918 were the others) and, at 32 goals, is tied for the fourth most goals in Cup Final history through four games. Bring on Game 5!

Players to watch in Game 5

Pickard’s work in relief of Skinner has become rather instrumental in the Oilers establishing some sense of consistency. The strongest example of that came in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings, when Pickard was named the starter in Game 3 and would win four straight to advance Edmonton to the second round. He won the first two games of the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights before an injury prompted the Oilers to return to Skinner.

Pickard was perfect in the second period of Game 4 and was nearly flawless until Reinhart’s goal late in the third. But when it reached overtime? Pickard stopped every shot — with some help from the crossbar — to finish the evening stopping 22 of 23 for a .957 save percentage over 51:18. And that was with the Panthers having a shot share greater than 57% over the final two periods. — Clark

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Calvin Pickard’s outrageous save keeps Oilers in game

Calvin Pickard’s incredible tip-save onto the crossbar stops Panthers from notching an overtime game-winner.

The Panthers’ leading scorer in the playoffs wasn’t at his best in Game 4 — and Florida will need a return to form Saturday. Bennett took a second period infraction that led to Edmonton’s first goal off a power-play marker by Nugent-Hopkins, and he was tagged again in the third period for tripping right when Florida had found its lost momentum.

Add to that Bennett collected just a single assist on a night where the Panthers struggled for offense after an explosive first period. That’s not the sort of impact Florida requires from Bennett — and all eyes will be on how he rebounds in Game 5.

It was a positive for Florida to see Tkachuk get rolling Thursday, but the Panthers’ offense has so often run through Bennett. (His breakaway goal in Game 3 was particularly nice.) Florida will be right to expect Bennett to step it up when the series shifts back to Edmonton. And if any player can turn things around in a hurry, it’s Bennett, who was the Conn Smythe Trophy favorite ahead of Game 4 for a reason. — Shilton

Big questions for Game 5

Did the Oilers’ comeback potentially unlock a new way to defend the Panthers?

The Oilers have had troubles with preventing breakaways. They’ve struggled with giving up the big period on more than one occasion. In fact, that was the narrative of a Game 3 that might have been their worst performance of the postseason.

The first period of Game 4 seemed to point to another defensive challenge for the Oilers — only for them to walk away with a win and the belief that they might have found a solution for their aforementioned issues.

In Game 4, the Oilers:

• Found ways to take away the passing lanes, which is why they went from allowing 17 shots in the first period to 23 shots for the entire rest of the game.

• Blocked 28 shots.

• Significantly prevented the Panthers from having high-danger chances despite the possession numbers. In fact, the Panthers finished with one high-danger scoring chance in overtime while having a 57.14% shot share.

Even with Reinhart’s late goal, the overall structure the Oilers used for the rest of Game 4 — coupled with Pickard’s performance — had them looking like the team that has led Connor McDavid to repeatedly state that they can play defense. But can they harness what they did in Game 4 for Game 5 and beyond? And if so, will that be the key to the rest of the series? — Clark

Can Florida rattle Pickard?

The Panthers had Skinner’s number in this series, scoring eight goals on the netminder through Game 3 and the first period of Game 4. Pickard, on the other hand, was excellent in relief of Skinner on Thursday, making 18 consecutive saves before allowing Reinhart’s goal late in the third.

It’s not as if Pickard wasn’t challenged. He made several terrific stops on the Panthers’ top scorers and proved he was still in peak form despite not starting a game in weeks.

That doesn’t bode well for Florida. Even though Reinhart did get one past Pickard late, it didn’t seem to shake Pickard’s confidence. He was terrific in extra time, doing more than enough to keep pace with Sergei Bobrovsky at the other end, and ultimately securing the victory for Edmonton.

So what sort of challenge will a goaltending switch present for Florida in Game 5? Pickard was a sensational 6-0 in the postseason before getting hurt in the second round. If Pickard can be that game-changing presence in the crease that the Oilers are looking for, what will it take for the Panthers to respond and recapture an offensive edge? — Shilton