How Many Teams Have Come Back From 3–1 Deficits in the NHL Playoffs?

It's happened relatively frequently—but not so often that it's lost its magic.

The 2023 Panthers celebrate a Game 5 first-round win over the Bruins. / Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images

Recently, SI examined which teams have come back from a 3–1 deficit in the NBA playoffs—and noted that the magic of such a comeback in basketball rests in its rarity.

Hockey is the opposite. It's a stretch to say that 3–1 series comebacks are common—none happened from 1942 to '75, for instance—but they occur frequently enough that fans don't have to surrender all hope when their team drops three of four to start a series.

Since the advent of the National Hockey League in 1918, 32 NHL teams have successfully overturned 3–1 series deficits—more than in the NBA and MLB combined. Comebacks have been staged in the Stanley Cup finals and in the first round; they have included overtime mayhem and blowouts; they have felled favorites and underdogs.

Without further ado, here's a look at the 32 comebacks, with commentary to follow.

How Many Teams Have Come Back From 3–1 Deficits in the NHL Playoffs?

YEAR	ROUND	RESULT
1942	Stanley Cup finals	Maple Leafs d. Red Wings
1975	Stanley Cup quarterfinals	Islanders d. Penguins
1987	Patrick Division semifinals	Islanders d. Capitals
1987	Norris Division finals	Red Wings d. Capitals
1988	Patrick Division semifinals	Capitals d. Flyers
1989	Smythe Division semifinals	Kings d. Oilers
1990	Smythe Division semifinals	Oilers d. Jets
1991	Norris Division semifinals	Blues d. Red Wings
1992	Norris Division semifinals	Red Wings d. North Stars
1992	Smythe Division semifinals	Canucks d. Jets
1992	Patrick Division semifinals	Penguins d. Capitals
1994	Western Conference quarterfinals	Canucks d. Flames
1995	Eastern Conference quarterfinals	Penguins d. Capitals
1998	Western Conference quarterfinals	Oilers d. Avalanche
1999	Western Conference quarterfinals	Blues d. Coyotes
2000	Eastern Conference finals	Devils d. Flyers
2003	Western Conference quarterfinals	Wild d. Avalanche
2003	Western Conference quarterfinals	Canucks d. Blues
2003	Western Conference semifinals	Wild d. Canucks
2004	Eastern Conference quarterfinals	Canadiens d. Bruins
2009	Eastern Conference quarterfinals	Capitals d. Rangers
2010	Eastern Conference quarterfinals	Canadiens d. Capitals
2010	Eastern Conference semifinals	Flyers d. Bruins
2011	Eastern Conference quarterfinals	Lightning d. Penguins
2013	Western Conference semifinals	Blackhawks d. Red Wings
2014	Western Conference first round	Kings d. Sharks
2014	Eastern Conference second round	Rangers d. Penguins
2015	Eastern Conference second round	Rangers d. Capitals
2019	Western Conference first round	Sharks d. Golden Knights
2021	North Division first round	Canadiens d. Maple Leafs
2022	Eastern Conference first round	Rangers d. Penguins
2023	Eastern Conference first round	Panthers d. Bruins

The first two instances of a team coming back from 3–1 down to win an NHL playoff series were, incidentally, the first two instances of a team coming back from 3–0 down to win an NHL playoff series. The Toronto Maple Leafs got off the mat in 1942 to down the Detroit Red Wings and win the Stanley Cup, and the New York Islanders replicated the feat in an earlier round in 1975.

After a lengthy drought, the years 1987 to '92 were something of a golden age for 3–1 comebacks. Nine teams rallied from that deficit in just six years, including two Stanley Cup champions in the 1990 Edmonton Oilers and 1992 Pittsburgh Penguins. The greatest game that era produced? The Easter Epic of '87, when the Islanders beat the Washington Capitals 3–2 in quadruple overtime in the NHL's longest Game 7.

The year 2003 brought a unique clash of teams with 3–1 comebacks under their belts. In the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, both the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks pulled off the feat. They went on to meet in the conference semifinals—only for the Wild to, again, come back from a 3–1 deficit and become the first NHL team to do that twice in the same year. The Mighty Ducks of Anaheim swept Minnesota in the conference finals.

A five-year run without a 3–1 comeback from 2004 to '09 marked the longest period without one since the 1980s. In 2010, the Philadelphia Flyers became the third team to come back from 3–0 down in a series against the Boston Bruins—and they also came back from a 3–0 deficit in Game 7. They went on to lose to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup finals.

In 2013 and 2014, the Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings became the two most recent Stanley Cup champions to overcome 3–1 playoff deficits. Chicago's comeback came against the Red Wings, who haven't advanced past the first round since. The Kings' rally, a comeback from 3–0 down, came against the San Jose Sharks.

As even casual hockey fans will remember, the most unlikely 3–1 comeback of them all may have come two years ago in 2023. The Bruins, coming off a record-breaking 65-12-5 regular season—one of the best in the history of the sport—took a 3–1 lead on the Florida Panthers' worst team in four years by point percentage. No matter: the Panthers won Games 5, 6 and 7 and eventually strode to their second Eastern Conference title.

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