The Edmonton Oilers had the opportunity to make history by winning the Stanley Cup after being down by three games in the final round of a best-of-seven series. This feat is incredibly rare, as no team in Major League Baseball or the National Basketball Association has achieved it. The last NHL team to accomplish this was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. Sports analyst Neil Paine highlighted that winning a championship after being down 3-0 requires both natural talent and mental fortitude, as only a few teams have managed to bounce back from such a deficit.
Paine’s calculations showed that the Oilers had just a 3.3 per cent chance of winning after Game 3, where the Florida Panthers had outscored them 11-4 in the first three games of the series. This 3.3 per cent chance is based on an Elo rating system that takes into account a team’s regular and post-season performance, goal differential, and other factors. The Oilers’ chance of winning was not the lowest in NHL history for a team down 3-0, but it was the lowest for a team in the Stanley Cup Finals.
Kevin Lowe, a former Edmonton Oilers player with five Stanley Cup championships, explained the difficulties of coming back from a 0-3 deficit. He mentioned that at this stage of the season, teams are usually evenly matched, making it hard to beat a team four straight times. Lowe pointed out that mistakes made by the Oilers in the first few games allowed the Panthers to capitalize and score more goals, emphasizing the importance of cleaning up these mistakes to have a chance at victory.
Lowe highlighted the importance of defense in preventing goals and mentioned that some of the goals scored by the Panthers could have been defended with simple stick-on-puck plays. He expressed that errors like these need to be eliminated to stop the opposition from scoring. Looking ahead to Game 7, Lowe acknowledged that a victory for either team would be significant for the sport, as Florida had the chance to win their first Stanley Cup, while Edmonton had the opportunity to make a historic comeback.
Ultimately, the Oilers were unable to secure a victory in Game 7, and the Florida Panthers clinched their first Stanley Cup. Despite their efforts to overcome a 3-0 deficit, the Oilers fell short in their comeback bid. Paine and Lowe both recognized the challenges faced by a team trying to win four games in a row against evenly matched opponents in the Stanley Cup Finals. While the Oilers’ attempt at a comeback was impressive, it ultimately ended in disappointment as they were unable to achieve the rare feat of winning a championship after being down 3-0.
