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Best playoff comeback from down 0-2

Toronto 1942 was down 3 - 0 in the finals, came back to beat Detroit 4-3 and won the cup. So far as I know, no other team has repeated this yet.
 
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Colorado did it to a two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion. They went from an 8-2 goal differential at the series' turning point to a 19-6 run the rest of the way.

I'm scanning through the list... was that the first time someone did it to the previous year's champion? And how many others started their comeback with Games 3 and 4 on the road?
 
quoipourquoi said:
Colorado did it to a two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion. They went from an 8-2 goal differential at the series' turning point to a 19-6 run the rest of the way.

I'm scanning through the list... was that the first time someone did it to the previous year's champion? And how many others started their comeback with Games 3 and 4 on the road?
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Well, there's '89... It was a 1-3 as opposed to a 0-2.
 
MXD said:
Well, there's '89... It was a 1-3 as opposed to a 0-2.
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And there was something about those Oilers that just seemed missing, right?

It's actually a little surprising that it doesn't happen to the champions too often. Maybe there's something to the idea of having the experience to close out a series.
 
Doctor No said:
Huh?

Given that they lost Game Three, how would losing Game Four (intentionally or otherwise) allow them to win the Cup in Game Five?
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I'm guessing the implication is that it was said after Game 2, but then I know a million Canucks fans and none expressed anything close to that sentiment.
 
Montreal lost their first two games at home in 1966 in the Cup final to Detroit before storming back to win in 6 games thanks to Henri Richard's controversial overtime goal. This was the Howe Red Wing's and the last time they were a Cup contender. Pretty impressive still.

I'm thinking of times when there was overtime involved along the way.

Pittsburgh vs. Washington in 2009 was impressive. Letang scored a fluke overtime winner in Game 3. You've got one shot by the Caps to make it a 3-0 series and they didn't do it. Pens win in 7. Then of course doing it to Detroit two rounds later and de-throning the defending Cup champs which meant the first time a team lost Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final at home since 1971.

Boston doing it against Vancouver was impressive as well since the Bruins had such lopsided scores in 4 of the next 5 games against the Nucks. Plus winning Game 7 of the Cup final on the road too.

Other ones like LA vs. Detroit in 2001. Who predicted that? Or Philly vs. Pittsburgh in 2000. Game 4 featured the 5OT game where Primeau scored. The Pens score in any of the previous 4 overtimes and it is 3-1 in the series.

Other ones aren't so impressive so much but still hard to believe these teams went down 2-0 in a series to these opponents before coming back:

Toronto was up 2-0 vs. Philly in 1977
Montreal was up 2-0 vs. Islanders in 1984
Vancouver was up 2-0 vs. Detroit in 2002
 
The correct answers, of course, are the three NHL teams that were down 0-3 in series and came back to win.

Of the (34?) 0-2 teams, I'll give a shout-out to one that's rarely mentioned: the 2006 Oilers against San Jose (round 2):

Game 1: San Jose wins 2-1
Game 2: San Jose wins 2-1
Game 3: San Jose has yet another 2-1 lead in the third period, and appears on their way to a 3-0 series lead. But with six minutes left, Raffi Torres sends it into overtime. After 124.5 minutes of hockey, Oilers' forward Shawn Horcoff ends it.

Oilers win the next three in a row by an aggregate score of 14-6.
 
Montreal has blown three 2-0 leads fairly since 1996. They are so painful to watch. Sad thing is that each of those times, Montreal took the 2-0 lead on the road, so you think there would be a big advantage.

In 1996, it was blown against the rangers. There was some good things going on from an offensive standpoint, but you never quite feel comfortable with that defense, and Thibault in net.

In 2006, it happened against Carolina. Then cam Ward came in and was phenomenal, while koivu took a high stick and was knocked out of the series. The rest is history.

In 2011, it happened against the bruins. That one went all the way to game 7 ot. Ouch.
 
HM: Detroit going down 0-2 against Vancouver in 2002 in the first round, then Yzerman threatening to bury the entire team where no one would ever find their bodies, and they steamrolled them for the next four games.
 
Cursed Lemon said:
HM: Detroit going down 0-2 against Vancouver in 2002 in the first round, then Yzerman threatening to bury the entire team where no one would ever find their bodies, and they steamrolled them for the next four games.
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I think that had more to do with the Cloutier mistake than with the Yzerman speech.
 
Big Phil said:
Other ones like LA vs. Detroit in 2001. Who predicted that?
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Not many, but at the same time not many could have predicted that Yzerman would be out of the series 1 period into it and that Shanahan would be out after game 2. It's tough to overcome losing 2 of your best 3 forwards. The next 4 games were all tight (all 1 goal, two of them going to OT,) but LA pulled it out. Detroit probably wins without the 2 injuries, but maybe that 1st rd exit ended up being good considering what was to soon come...

I remember being so depressed after that series loss thinking that the era of Detroit greatness was finally ending. Little did I know what they were going to do that offseason and little did I know who they had soon ready to blossom from the 98 and 99 drafts.
 
This one's easy for me.

1a). The 2011 Stanley Cup Finals between the Bruins and Vancouver. What a series. I was THOROUGHLY entertained. :popcorn: :handclap:

1b). The 2011 first round series between the Bruins and Montreal. To my knowledge, it was the first time the Bruins had EVER come back from an 0-2 deficit, and given the two combatants - I mean opponents, it was a big deal. NOBODY except for the most serious Bruins honks thought the Bruins had any chance at all. The Game 7 OT win was glorious. It was nice to see the shoe on the other foot for once.

Yeah, these are total homer picks. I don't care. Those are my favorites.
 
1991 Stanley Cup playoffs: Pittsburgh Penguins, down 2-0 vs the defending Wales Conference champions Boston Bruins, ended up winning 4 straight, and go on to win their first Stanley Cup.
 
I'm surprised no one mentioned Montreal in 93 yet.

Down 2-0 to Quebec Nordiques in round 1.

Game 3 goes to OT

Habs win. Go on to win the next 3 games to beat Nordiques 4-2. In fact go on an 11 game playoff winning streak (a record), on route to their cup.
 
quoipourquoi said:
Colorado did it to a two-time defending Stanley Cup Champion. They went from an 8-2 goal differential at the series' turning point to a 19-6 run the rest of the way.

I'm scanning through the list... was that the first time someone did it to the previous year's champion? And how many others started their comeback with Games 3 and 4 on the road?
Click to expand...
It also helped that Bill Ranford as a backup hadn't played too many games and quickly dissipated in the playoffs. Still stings almost as much as the injuries in the 09 finals.
 
Flyers were down 0-2 to Pittsburgh in the 2000 Conference semi-final after two losses at home. They then won the next 4, including Games 3 and 4 in Pittsburgh.

This includes taking the infamous 5 OT Game 3 thriller on a goal by Keith Primeau, sometime around 2:30 am. That game could have gone either way. I believe sometime in the first overtime period, Alexei Kovalev rang a point blast off the iron behind Brian Boucher during a Pens power play.
 
Yeah, a few Cup champs have been down 0-2 in Round 1 and came back to win their series. Would be interesting to see who would have won the Cup in all of those years had the 0-2 series deficit had not been overcome.
 
Question: Besides the two recent examples -- Canucks in '11, Red Wings in '09 -- have any other teams blown a 2-0 series lead in the Finals?
 
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