Heroic Comebacks

A few days ago I was involved in an online discussion about the phenomenon of NHL teams coming back in playoff series from 3-1 down to force game 7. This was in the context of the Montreal-Boston series, which Montreal had seemed to have in hand before gacking up games 5 and 6. Specifically, we were wondering what tended to happen in game 7 of such series. Did the team that had led 3-1 tend to get its act together and win out, or did the team that came back and forced game 7 have the upper hand? There seemed to be only one thing to do. Here, then, is the list of best-of-7 series wherein a team has led 3 games to 1, only to end up playing game 7. Some observations will follow.

Year	Team With 3-1 Lead	Opponent	Game 7 Winner
2000	Philadelphia	Washington	Philadelphia
2008	Montreal	Boston	Montreal
2007	Vancouver	Dallas	Vancouver
2006	Carolina	Edmonton	Carolina*
2004	Boston	Montreal	Montreal
2003	New Jersey	Ottawa	New Jersey
2003	Vancouver	Minnesota Wild	Minnesota Wild
2003	St. Louis	Vancouver	Vancouver
2003	Colorado	Minnesota Wild	Minnesota Wild
2002	Colorado	Los Angeles	Colorado
2001	Colorado	Los Angeles	Colorado
2000	Philadelphia	New Jersey	New Jersey
2000	San Jose	St. Louis	San Jose
1999	Phoenix	St. Louis	St. Louis
1998	Colorado	Edmonton	Edmonton
1995	Washington	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh
1994	NY Rangers	Vancouver	NY Rangers*
1994	Calgary	Vancouver	Vancouver
1992	Winnipeg	Vancouver	Vancouver
1992	Minnesota North Stars	Detroit	Detroit
1992	Washington	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh
1992	Boston	Buffalo	Boston
1991	Edmonton	Calgary	Edmonton
1991	Detroit	St. Louis	St. Louis
1990	Winnipeg	Edmonton	Edmonton
1989	Edmonton	Los Angeles	Los Angeles
1988	Philadelphia	Washington	Washington
1987	Edmonton	Philadelphia	Edmonton*
1987	Toronto	Detroit	Detroit
1987	Philadelphia	NY Islanders	Philadelphia
1987	Washington	NY Islanders	NY Islanders
1984	Edmonton	Calgary	Edmonton
1981	Calgary	Philadelphia	Calgary
1975	Philadelphia	NY Islanders	Philadelphia+
1975	Pittsburgh	NY Islanders	NY Islanders+
1968	St. Louis	Philadelphia	St. Louis
1954	Detroit	Montreal	Detroit*
1945	Toronto	Detroit	Toronto+*
1942	Detroit	Toronto	Toronto+*
1939	Boston	NY Rangers	Boston+
* = Stanley Cup Finals
+ = Series was at 3-0

• The table has been updated to include the Montreal-Boston and Washington-Philadelphia from this season.
  
• Out of 40 series, 20 have been won by the team who originally held the 3-1 lead, and 20 by the team that came back. So, you can for all intents and purposes flip a coin.
  
• Astonishingly, for two teams that have been around since the NHL introduced best-of-7 series, this year marked the first time that Montreal has ever coughed up a 3-1 lead and gone to game 7, and the first time that Boston has ever managed to come back from 3-1 down.
  
• Philadelphia is the worst culprit when it comes to giving up 3-1 leads, having done it five times. The Flyers have recovered to win three of those series.
  
• The two teams that have most accomplished the feat of forcing a game 7 after being 3-1 down are the Vancouver Canucks and the New York Islanders, with four apiece. Vancouver has gone on to win three of those game 7s, the Islanders two. However, the Islanders deserve some credit for forcing a game 7 after being down 3-0 twice in the same playoff year!