Only five teams have put themselves in position to do what the Philadelphia Flyers are hoping to do Friday night against the Boston Bruins.
And only two of those five have ever been successful.
Here is a look at how teams have fared in Game 7 after losing the first three games of the series.
1939 New York Rangers
The pioneers of the 0-3 comeback attempt had to work extra hard to do it, but ultimately fell short.
In the semi-finals against Boston, the Rangers lost the first three games, two of which were in overtime.
The Rangers got on the board with a 2-1 win in Game 4, and then won Game 5, 2-1 (OT) and Game 6, 3-1, to set up an epic Game 7.
With the score tied 1-1 after regulation, the Rangers took the Bruins into the third overtime before Mel (Sudden Death) Hill scored to put give Boston the victory.
The Bruins then went on to a 4-1 series win over the Toronto Maple Leafs in the Stanley Cup final.
1942 Toronto Maple Leafs
The first to successfully climb the 0-3 mountain also did it for the biggest prize. In the Cup final against Detroit, the Leafs looked done after losing the first three games to the Red Wings, a team that had finished 15 points behind Toronto in the standings.
But the Leafs squeaked out a 4-3 win in Game 4 before pounding the Wings, 9-3, in Game 5 and shutting them out, 3-0, in Game 6 to even the series 3-3.
 Hall of Famer Ted Lindsay was part of the famous 1945 Red Wings team. |
On April 18, the Leafs beat Detroit 3-1 to win the Stanley Cup, and complete a series comeback that wasn’t matched until 35 years later.
1945 Detroit Red Wings
Three years after their humiliating collapse to the Leafs, the Wings had an opportunity for payback.
Facing the Leafs in the Cup final, the Wings played the part of loser by being shut out in each of the first three games. But Detroit finally scored in Game 4, beating Toronto 5-3 before recording shutouts of their own in Game 5 and Game 6.
The Leafs, though, found their bearings in Game 7 and won 2-1 to win the Cup.
1975 New York Islanders (twice)
Though there was no Cup glory, the Islanders deserve full credit for what they achieved in the 1975 playoffs.
Down 0-3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the quarter-finals, the future Cup dynasty squad battled back to force a Game 7, winning 1-0 to become just the second team to successfully climb out of an 0-3 series hole.
But the Islanders decided to play with fire one too many times that year. The following round, the Islanders met the defending Cup champion Philadelphia Flyers and promptly fell behind in the series, 3-0, two by shutout and one in overtime.
But the never-say-die Islanders reeled off three wins of their own – 4-3 (OT), 5-1, and 2-1 – before losing 2-1 in Game 7.
