The Edmonton Oilers made a remarkable comeback in Game 4 to tie the Finals series at 2-2. But during the game, Wayne Gretzky made a statement that completely shocked every hockey fan—calling one of the players on the ice “one of the smartest to ever play our game.”
The 2025 Stanley Cup Final has had it all: lots of goals, plenty of physical battles, and entertaining, thrilling games. It’s the absolute highest level of hockey, with some of the best players in the world all competing for one of the most prestigious trophies in all of sports. And Game 4 showcased exactly that.
The Edmonton Oilers, hoping to even the series, started with one of the worst periods of their playoffs, allowing three unanswered goals. But in the second period, they pulled off a remarkable comeback to tie the game 3-3. Late in the third period, Jake Walman scored a fourth goal—but the Florida Panthers refused to lie down. Before the final buzzer, Sam Reinhart scored to make it 4-4. In overtime, German superstar Leon Draisaitl scored the deciding goal to give the Oilers their second win of the series, leveling it at 2-2.
Wayne Gretzky’s wild claim
But it wasn’t Draisaitl’s goal that impressed hockey legend Wayne Gretzky the most. Instead, he was captivated by something special when the Panthers scored their tying goal. After chaos broke out in front of Calvin Pickard’s net, Sam Reinhart positioned himself perfectly to pick up a loose puck and, from a tight angle, beat Pickard to score the crucial goal.
Although the Final features players and probable future Hall of Famers like Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Matthew Tkachuk, and Brad Marchand, The Great One gave extraordinary praise to Sam Reinhart, stunning the hockey world.
“Sam Reinhart might be one of the smartest players to ever play our game,” Gretzky said about the Panthers’ center on TNT, per ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski.
While there’s no denying Sam Reinhart is an incredible player, with back-to-back point-per-game seasons, it’s a bold claim to call him one of the smartest players in NHL history. But if Wayne Gretzky says so, who are we to argue?
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