Since the NHL went to a best-of-seven playoff format more than 70 years ago, only the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs and the 1975 New York Islanders have rallied from a 3-0 deficits to win a series.
No team wants to find itself down 3-0, but that’s where the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers found themselves by mid-week.
Red Wings struggle against Sharks
The Red Wings face elimination after blowing a 3-1 lead to the San Jose Sharks in Game 3 to lose 4-3 in overtime as Sharks forward Patrick Marleau completed a classic two-on-one break by snapping a crisp pass from linemate Joe Thornton past Wings goalie Jimmy Howard.
It can be argued the Wings' 4-3 loss in Game 1 could be blamed on lingering fatigue, having to face the well-rested Sharks only two days after finishing a grueling seven-game series against the Phoenix Coyotes.
Their Game 2 defeat by a similar score could be tied to the officiating as they were whistled for 10 penalties — some questionable — compared to only four calls against the Sharks.
The Wings, however, have no one to blame but themselves for losing Game 3, failing to maintain a two-goal lead when victory was seemingly within their grasp.
To the Wings' credit they aren’t hiding behind excuses. They know the real reason for their predicament is their opponent has been the better team in this series. In Game 1, the Sharks held on for a 4-3 victory and in the next two games overcame one- and two-goal deficits to gain a stranglehold on the series.
San Jose’s best players have risen to the occasion. That's especially true of the much-maligned duo of Thornton and Marleau, who were instrumental in the victories in Games 2 and 3. The Sharks have taken a significant step in finally shaking off the “playoff choke” label dogging them in recent years.
Flyers stay grounded
As for the Flyers, they’ve been game opponents for the Boston Bruins, narrowly losing the first two games of the series.
The Flyers remained within a goal in Game 3 until Mark Recchi’s tally early in the third period gave Boston an insurmountable two-goal lead. Patrice Bergeron’s empty-netter late in the period was simply icing on the cake for the Bruins.
The Flyers-Bruins series was expected to be a close, hard-fought contest and has certainly lived up to that expectation. But the Bruins went into this series with a healthier roster and a superb goaltender in Tuukka Rask against a battered Flyers roster with a good, but not great, goalie in Brian Boucher.
The absence of scoring forwards Jeff Carter and Simon Gagne plus checker Ian Laperriere significantly hampered the Flyers, who spent all but two minutes of the first three games in this series playing “catch-up” hockey.
It’s not a certainty the Flyers would win this series if Gagne, Carter and Laperriere were in the lineup, but they probably wouldn’t find themselves in such a seemingly insurmountable hole so soon in the series.
History certainly appears to be against the Red Wings and Flyers, which will take a psychological toll. Being down three games to none is much tougher than overcoming a 3-1 deficit, which the Montreal Canadiens recently pulled off in their opening-round upset of the Washington Capitals.
The Red Wings and Flyers of course won’t admit defeat and will barely acknowledge the nearly impossible task facing them. They’re too proud to do that. They’ll talk instead about taking one game at a time, that if they can win Game 4 they still have a chance, that their opponents will be under more pressure to win than they will.
But it remains to be seen if the Red Wings and Flyers believe it.
