Edmonton grabs home ice and heads home in thrilling Stanley Cup Final tied 2-2 vs. Florida Panthers

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Corey Perry knew from his seat on the bench he wanted to say something.

His Edmonton Oilers looked flat, outclassed by the defending champion Florida Panthers, and were in danger of a third consecutive loss in their Stanley Cup Final rematch that would have put them on the brink of losing once again. In the locker room at the first intermission, he offered some words of wisdom.

“It wasn’t wisdom. It was just honesty,” Perry said Friday. “Had to realize where we were at the moment and just kind of look ourselves in the mirror and how we were playing.”

Everything flipped from there, with the Oilers erasing a three-goal deficit and bouncing back from losing the lead with 19.5 seconds left in regulation to win Game 4 and tie the series. This terrific fina l is now a best of three between two titans, experienced like Perry because so many involved have been here before and know how to be at their best when the stakes are the highest.

“There’s a reason both teams are here," Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. "It’s the hardest trophy to win, and both teams are resilient and strong and have some amazing players that can do some amazing things. It’s going to take all of us. That’s the message: Stay together and find a way to get it done.”

Sometime in the next week, either Florida goes back to back or Connor McDavid hoists the Stanley Cup for the first time and ends Canada's NHL championship drought dating to 1993. These hardened opponents will play at least two more times, starting with Game 5 on Saturday night in Edmonton, putting on a spectacular display of the sport in the process.

“Oh, this is as good as this thing gets,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “This is Christmas. This is the payoff.”

Maurice's team has played 312 regular-season and playoff games since he took over. The Oilers have played 303.

Yet, somehow they are bringing some of their best hockey in June. It's something Maurice chalks up to excitement that builds energy knowing the end is near, and the Panthers, in their third consecutive final and the Oilers in their second, seem to thrive at this stage.

“(It is) just the maturity of the team,” second-year Edmonton coach Kris Knoblauch said. “We’re an older team. There’s been a lot of highs and lows that they’ve experienced.”

Those highs and lows hit extremes on Thursday night when the Panthers built a 3-0 lead in the first period and the Oilers erased it in the second. They went back and forth again in the third before Leon Draisaitl scored his single-season, playoff-record fourth overtime goal.

Florida is now all even with the team it beat in the final a year ago, knowing home-ice advantage again melted away.

“You kind of ride that wave,” winger Sam Reinhart said. “It’s an emotional grind. That’s part of it. That makes it so sweet when you win it. So, we’re in another battle, and we won’t want it any other way. And now it’s about recovering and going into Edmonton and trying to do what we can to win a Game 5 and bring it back here.”

There will be a Game 6 on Tuesday night in Florida, along with the nerves and anticipation about one team being on the verge of completing a title journey. But players can't realistically think that way.

“I’m not looking longer or further than the next game,” Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. “It’s Game 5 now, and we all know that Game 5 is always a big, big game in the playoffs.”

Thanks to a scheduling quirk, it also comes on a short turnaround, without an extra travel day for the teams to practice and shake off the cross-continental jet lag. Maurice said that's nothing new for his group, accustomed to it from the long season. They know there will be a jacked-up crowd waitin in Edmonton.

"We know it’s going to be a quick pace, and that building is very loud," Florida's Gustav Forsling said. “It’s going to be loud. It’s going to be pressure on both teams.”

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

Florida Panthers center Carter Verhaeghe (23) watches as Edmonton Oilers goaltender Calvin Pickard (30) stops a shot on goal during the third period of Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final Thursday, June 12, 2025, in Sunrise, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, center bottom, makes a save as Edmonton Oilers' Trent Frederic, center, and Jeff Skinner (53) look for the puck during the first overtime period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise, Fla., Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

Edmonton Oilers' Corey Perry (90) is stopped by Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky (72) during the third period in Game 4 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise, Fla., Thursday, June 12, 2025. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

Fans show their support for the Edmonton Oilers before they take on the Florida Panthers in Game 1 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup final series in Edmonton, Alberta, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's photo portrait display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery has had references to his two impeachments removed, the latest apparent change at the collection of museums he has accused of bias as he asserts his influence over how official presentations document U.S. history.

The wall text, which summarized Trump's first presidency and noted his 2024 comeback victory, was part of the museum's “American Presidents” exhibition. The description had been placed alongside a photograph of Trump taken during his first term. Now, a different photo appears without any accompanying text block, though the text was available online. Trump was the only president whose display in the gallery, as seen Sunday, did not include any extended text.

The White House did not say whether it sought any changes. Nor did a Smithsonian statement in response to Associated Press questions. But Trump ordered in August that Smithsonian officials review all exhibits before the nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence on July 4. The Republican administration said the effort would “ensure alignment with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.”

Trump's original “portrait label," as the Smithsonian calls it, notes Trump's Supreme Court nominations and his administration's development of COVID-19 vaccines. That section concludes: “Impeached twice, on charges of abuse of power and incitement of insurrection after supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, he was acquitted by the Senate in both trials.”

Then the text continues: “After losing to Joe Biden in 2020, Trump mounted a historic comeback in the 2024 election. He is the only president aside from Grover Cleveland (1837– 1908) to have won a nonconsecutive second term.”

Asked about the display, White House spokesman Davis Ingle celebrated the new photograph, which shows Trump, brow furrowed, leaning over his Oval Office desk. Ingle said it ensures Trump's “unmatched aura ... will be felt throughout the halls of the National Portrait Gallery.”

The portrait was taken by White House photographer Daniel Torok, who is credited in the display that includes medallions noting Trump is the 45th and 47th president. Similar numerical medallions appear alongside other presidents' painted portraits that also include the more extended biographical summaries such as what had been part of Trump's display.

Sitting presidents are represented by photographs until their official paintings are commissioned and completed.

Ingle did not answer questions about whether Trump or a White House aide, on his behalf, asked for anything related to the portrait label.

The gallery said in a statement that it had previously rotated two photographs of Trump from its collection before putting up Torok's work.

“The museum is beginning its planned update of the America’s Presidents gallery which will undergo a larger refresh this Spring,” the gallery statement said. “For some new exhibitions and displays, the museum has been exploring quotes or tombstone labels, which provide only general information, such as the artist’s name.”

For now, references to Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton being impeached in 1868 and 1998, respectively, remain as part of their portrait labels, as does President Richard Nixon's 1974 resignation as a result of the Watergate scandal.

And, the gallery statement noted, “The history of Presidential impeachments continues to be represented in our museums, including the National Museum of American History.”

Trump has made clear his intentions to shape how the federal government documents U.S. history and culture. He has offered an especially harsh assessment of how the Smithsonian and other museums have featured chattel slavery as a seminal variable in the nation's development but also taken steps to reshape how he and his contemporary rivals are depicted.

In the months before his order for a Smithsonian review, he fired the head archivist of the National Archives and said he was firing the National Portrait Gallery's director, Kim Sajet, as part of his overhaul. Sajet maintained the backing of the Smithsonian's governing board, but she ultimately resigned.

At the White House, Trump has designed a notably partisan and subjective “Presidential Walk of Fame” featuring gilded photographs of himself and his predecessors — with the exception of Biden, who is represented by an autopen — along with plaques describing their presidencies.

The White House said at the time that Trump himself was a primary author of the plaques. Notably, Trump's two plaques praise the 45th and 47th president as a historically successful figure while those under Biden's autopen stand-in describe the 46th executive as “by far, the worst President in American History” who “brought our Nation to the brink of destruction.”

Barrow reported from Atlanta.

People react to a photograph of President Donald Trump on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors to the National Portrait Gallery walk past the portrait of President Donald Trump, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

Visitors stop to look at a photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

A photograph of President Donald Trump and a short plaque next to it are on display at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery's "American Presidents" exhibit on Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026 in Washington. (AP Photo/Anna Johnson)

President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with oil executives in the East Room of the White House, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)