The Western Conference champions tied the series up at two win apiece. Three nights on from the Panthers' dominant 6-1 win on home ice, it was looking like the same thing was going to happen again on Thursday. The hosts opened the scoring on a two-man advantage situation. Mere seconds after the face-off, Matthew Tkachuk fired a shot past Stuart Skinner to give his team the lead.
Five minutes later, Florida found themselves in another power play situation. That was where Sam Reinhart had his effort stopped by Skinner, but Tkachuk was again in the right spot at the right time to put the puck home, albeit from a tight angle. For the second game in a row, the Panthers took a 2-0 lead in the opening period.
Matters got worse for the Oilers just before the first intermission. This time, it came from a giveaway behind the goal. Carter Verhaeghe found Anton Lundell in front of the goal, and the centre made no mistake in finishing his opportunity.
In Stanley Cup history, teams who went up 3-0 were 37-0, meaning the Panthers were in a very good spot. The Oilers made a goaltender change to start the second period, as Calvin Pickard came in to relieve Skinner.
It took three and a half minutes in the second for Edmonton to get on the board. After Sam Bennett was sent to the penalty box for slashing, the guests pounced on the power play. Team captain Connor McDavid found Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, who swiftly shot it past Sergei Bobrovsky to get one back.
The Oilers outshot their opponents 24-10 in the second as they attempted a comeback. They found their second goal 7:13 before the period's conclusion, thanks to Darnell Nurse. He got a shot off that went above Bobrovsky's shoulder and in to firmly bring his team back into the game.
Less than two and a half minutes later, the game was tied. Nurse played provider this time, as his deflected pass went to Vasli Podkolzin, who finished from close range.
An enthralling third period ensued, with the Oilers now holding the momentum after coming from three down to tie it up. They managed to take the lead with 6:24 left in regulation. Kasperi Kapanen picked out an open Jake Walman, who one-timed it past Bobrvosky to give Edmonton their first lead of the night.
That left Florida chasing the game, and while they still had over six minutes to level, it would not be an easy task. The hosts got desperate, and pulled their goaltender with two and a half minutes to go. That eventually paid off. With 20 seconds to go, Tkachuk was able to pass to Reinhart who found the back of the net with a tight angled shot.
For the third time in the series, overtime was needed to determine a winner. The Oilers, desperately needing a win to avoid going down 3-1, were the ones who got the goal. Podkolzin received the puck over the blue line, and played Leon Draisaitl. His backhand shot squeezed by Bobrovsky and into the net to end the game.
That goal could become key in the series, which is now nodded up at two apiece. The teams will head back to Edmonton for Game 5, which will occur on Saturday. Edmonton became the first team in Stanley Cup history to come back from three goals down in a game. Whether they can ride that momentum going into the fifth game is another matter.
See all of the match stats for this thrilling Game 4 on Flashscore.