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5 greatest Round 1 comebacks in NHL Playoffs history ft. Panthers vs Bruins 2023
With each passing year, the NHL, and the NHL playoffs, change more and more. Teams come back from huge four-goal deficits or 3-1 series holes far more often. The league is producing more goals and more action, a recipe for plenty of comebacks and drama.
However, history still has plenty of fun playoff battles to look at. Let's look at the top five comebacks in NHL playoffs history.
5 best comebacks in NHL playoffs history
#1 Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins - 2023
This may be the most stunning of the entire list.
The Boston Bruins set a franchise record with 65 wins and 135 points in the regular season. And they continued their stellar play, jumping up 3-1 in the first-round NHL playoffs series against the Florida Panthers.
But as we would find out time and time again over the next month, the Panthers do not go away quietly.
Florida stormed back, winning the next three games, including two at TD Garden in Boston. Both games in Boston went to overtime.
Matthew Tkachuk was the Panthers' best skate, and Sergei Bobrovsky was incredible in the net for Florida.
#2 San Jose Sharks vs Vegas Golden Knights - 2019
The San Jose Sharks not only overcame a 3-1 deficit against the Golden Knights, they pulled off an improbable Game 7 rally to do it.
Vegas was coming off a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in its inaugural season and had a 3-1 series lead heading into Game 5 in San Jose with a chance to advance to the second round once again.
However, the Sharks had different plans. San Jose won Games 5 and 6, and in Game 7, used a huge comeback to flip the series on its head.
Trailing 3-0 in the third period, San Jose scored the next four goals on a five-minute major penalty to Knights' forward Cody Eakin. The Sharks rallied behind their captain Joe Pavelski, who was injured and carried off after the hit by Eakin.
Vegas did tie the game 4-4, but San Jose won late in the first overtime to complete the comeback and advance.
#3 Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs - 2021
The Montreal Canadiens of 2021 were fun to watch.
Led by rookie Cole Caufield and head coach Claude Julien, the Habs made an improbable run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in the shortened COVID-19 NHL season.
In the playoffs, Montreal drew a Toronto Maple Leafs team that had not won a playoff series since 2004.
The Maple Leafs led the series 3-1 after a dominant 4-0 win in Game 4. However, Montreal took the next two games in overtime and held on for a 3-1 win in Game 7 to pull off the improbable upset and send Leafs fans further down the rabbit hole.
#4 Los Angeles Kings vs San Jose Sharks - 2014
Los Angeles was a dynasty in the early to mid-2010s, using acrobatic and incredible goaltending from Jonathan Quick to defend their way to two Stanley Cups through the NHL playoffs.
In 2014, LA faced off against their Pacific Division rival, the San Jose Sharks in round one. San Jose jumped all over the Kings, winning the first three games and outscoring Los Angeles 17-5.
I am not sure what LA said or did between Games 3 and 4 because they were a completely different team from that point on.
The Kings won the next four games, this time outscoring San Jose 18-5. It was pure domination and one of only four times a team has come back from 3-0 in the NHL playoffs.
#5 Vancouver Canucks vs Winnipeg Jets - 1992
The Vancouver Canucks, featuring superstar and future Hall-of-Famer Pavel Bure, were in a tough spot heading into Game 5 of their first-round series against the Winnipeg Jets.
The Jets won three of the first four games, putting Vancouver in a 3-1 series hole. Each game had been tight, with only one or two goals separating the clubs, and Vancouver believed they were a couple of bounces away from leading the series 3-1.
Turns out they were right.
The Canucks scored 21 goals over the next three games, including 8-0 and 8-3 wins in Games 5 and 6, and put the series to bed seemingly out of nowhere.
So, who is the next team to make a dramatic comeback in the NHL playoffs? And when?
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