Greatest Playoff Comebacks...Share Em!

[Schenn02]

Not playoffs... but wasn't there a game between St. Louis and Toronto where the Blues came back from down 5-0 in the 3rd and won in OT?

LOL yea I remember that game. 2 other non playoffs

The flu game...Ottawa up 4-0 and Toronto storms back to win 5-4 in OT

Buffalo - down 5-2 heading into the third and we won in OT 6-5

One playoff that sticks out is somehow the Habs and Bruins from last season, I thought the Habs had no chance and they won that series.

 

[Biggest Canuck Fan]

the miracle on manchester was obvously the greatest comeback even though I wasn't old enough to actually experience it.

But my favorite comeback was in game 2 of the 1993 finals beteen the habs and kings.

Habs were down 2-0 late in the 3rd and were on the brink of going on the road down 2-0 in the series... Hrudey looked unbeatbale to add fuel to the fire.... then the McSorley stick incident happened and Desjardins won the game in OT with his hat trick goal... and I still believe that Desjardins is the only d-man to get a hat trick in the finals.

I was 10 years old at the time but I had goosebumps all over my body.

amazing game and I'd love for TSN to show that classic game.

Down 2-1... Schneider opened the Scoring.

Miracle on Manchester. Think, Gretzky had scored 92 goals and the Oilers looked poised to make their run.... then the unthinkable!!!

 

[NYIsles1*]

75 Islanders...

Last hockey team to comeback down 3-0 to win a series vs Pittsburgh, followed that by coming back down 3-0 to force a seventh game with Kate Smith.

More recent the 87 Easter Epic with Lafontaine scoring in 4ot at 2am to beat the Caps after being down 3-1 in that series. Unreal.

Being down 3-2 and eliminating the Pens in ot on the road in 92-93 was also amazing and one Mario never talks about to this day.

 

[The Kingslayer]

'97 playoffs and the Oilers are down 3-0 with 4 minutes to go in the game

they scrape together 3 straight to force O.T and Bucky wins it in o.t

Rexall was going nuts

that was the most exciting game i have ever seen

 

[The Kingslayer]

anyone have video of this?

I do, but I have not the heart to put it up

 

[se7en*]

The last goal to tie it up resulted due to Gretzky getting stripped of the puck and we're talking about Wayne in his prime here!

Gretzky was 21 when that series happened. Hardly in his prime.

But then you've never been one to let pesky facts get in the way.

For the Oilers, its gotta be Game 3 vs. Dallas in 1997. I remember watching that game yelling 'Come on b*ches, this is your first home playoff game in 5 years - make it memorable!!!'

Boy did they ever!

 

[KOVALEV10*]

Gretzky was 21 when that series happened. Hardly in his prime.

But then you've never been one to let pesky facts get in the way.

For the Oilers, its gotta be Game 3 vs. Dallas in 1997. I remember watching that game yelling 'Come on b*ches, this is your first home playoff game in 5 years - make it memorable!!!'

Boy did they ever!

Yeah maybe he was 21 but he scored 92 goals that years and 212 points.

 

[bluebleeder38]

1986 playoffs when the Blues were down 5-2 to Calgary in the third, tied it w/ about a minute left, and Wickenheiser scored in OT to force Game 7 in the Conference Finals. Regarded as the "Monday Night Miracle" in St. Louis.

 

[revolverjgw]

In 2001, the Hurricanes and the Habs in game 4 ECSF and the Canes were down by 3 or 4 goals and losing the game would've meant going down 3-1 in the series. Anyway, I think Jeff O'Neill got one, then another Cane and then Eric Cole tied it with seconds left and the Canes went on to win in OT and didn't lose another game to Montreal (and denied all of Canada a Habs/Leafs ECF).

That was backbreaking. It's crazy... as soon as that happened, I KNEW my Habs were going to lose that series. It was an incredibly ominous moment.

 

[solventless710]

Calgary vs. Canucks game 6.. Canucks up 4-0, Calgary storms back. What a game.

Man, I still remember watching that game. Definitley one of the best comebacks of the 2004 Playoffs...

 

[Boilers*]

That was a great last 4 minutes. They played like crap the whole game b4 that, but picked it up to score 3 in the final 4 minutes. That was a crazy comeback. How a team can play so bad for 56 minutes and then just turn it up to force OT and win it is beyond me.

My wife was going to flip the channel and I said " No wait, miracles can happen!" my god that turned into the best playoff run (nailbitting-wise) I had seen in 10 years.

 

[Chili]

92 playoffs, Rangers and Pens in Pittsburgh, Game four. Rangers leading the series two games to one and 4-2 in the third period. If the Pens lose they go back to NY for game five down 3 games to 1.

With about ten minutes left the Pens get called for a 5 minute penalty giving the Rangers a long powerplay. And if I remember correctly, Mario Lemieux was injured early in the series and not in this game.

Amazingly, the Pens killed the 5 minute penalty and scored 2 goals in the last few minutes to tie the game and send it to ot.

This had to be one of Ron Francis' greatest games...He scored the tying goal and then stripped Mark Messier of the puck (as I remember it) and scored the winner in ot. And the Pens went on to win the series and later their second cup.

 

[Youreallygotme]

'97 playoffs and the Oilers are down 3-0 with 4 minutes to go in the game

they scrape together 3 straight to force O.T and Bucky wins it in o.t

Rexall was going nuts

that reminds me!!!

2002, game 3 Dallas vs. Edmonton - 2-0 for Dallas with a 1:01 left, all looks lost, and Belfour makes a giveaway and Edmonton pops one in the empty net. Then Eric Brewer scored with I think 13 tics on the clock. This was in Edmonton. The place went out of it's mind, It was like theyd won the stanley cup. (Dallas won it OT)

Another good one was game 7 last year, I know it was only a 1 goal comeback, but the Canucks rushed it from behind their own net with only 15 seconds remaining, go all the way down and score a goal delivered straight from heaven . unfortunately the Flames shut us up pretty shortly after that .

I've also seen the Carolina and Los Angeles comebacks. Both were not only single game comebacks, but series turning points.

 

[hockeyfan125]

For a series comeback, the Canucks vs. the Blues two years ago, the Wild vs. us two years ago, Canucks vs. the Flames in 1994. I have that entire series on DVD (I had vhs and transfered it). That is hockey at its finest. The 1994 Cup Playoffs was the last TRUE GREAT NHL hockey.

 

[soulok*]

Its gotta be Dallas 3 Edmonton 0 ...... 1997 ..... with 3 minutes to play in the third period! in Edmonton.

Then the comeback started and dallas coudn't do anything except watch the Oilers run wild. They were playing purely on adrenalin. Feeding of the energy the Coliseum built up after every goal. It has to rank as the loudest playoff game in hockey history. 120 decibals or something like that. Just ridiculous. I remember i was with my buddies gettin drunk and watching the game. SAhyt got us so pumped we started to break our glasses. haha

 

[clefty]

92 playoffs, Rangers and Pens in Pittsburgh, Game four. Rangers leading the series two games to one and 4-2 in the third period. If the Pens lose they go back to NY for game five down 3 games to 1.

Good one. The Rangers were a damn good team as well.

With about ten minutes left the Pens get called for a 5 minute penalty giving the Rangers a long powerplay. And if I remember correctly, Mario Lemieux was injured early in the series and not in this game.

Joey Mullen wasn't playing, either. I think that was where he got his clock cleaned by two Rangers one the one play. One guy crunched him, and as he was losing his footing and falling to the ice, he got drilled by another. Nasty stuff.

This had to be one of Ron Francis' greatest games...He scored the tying goal...

Richter must still be having nightmares about that slapshot.

 

[David Puddy]

194(7?)

After 3 games : Detriot 3, Toronto 0
After 7 games : Toronto 4, Detriot 3

1941-42 Stanley Cup Finals
Apr 4 DET defeats TOR 3-2
Apr 7 DET defeats TOR 4-2
Apr 9 DET defeats TOR 5-2
Apr 12 TOR defeats DET 4-3
Apr 14 TOR defeats DET 9-3
Apr 16 TOR defeats DET 3-0
Apr 18 TOR defeats DET 3-1

The only thing that diminishes this for me is the fact that Detroit went 19-25-4 during the regular season, finishing 5th in the 7-team NHL. Toronto finished 2nd with a 27-18-3 record.

Game recaps courtesy of The Internet Hockey Database.

devils versus flyers in 2000 i think

That's my personal favorite. The Scott Stevens hit on Eric Lindros gets too much credit. The score was 1-0 Devils at the time on a Patrik Elias goal. The Flyers tied it up on a 2nd period goal by Rick Tocchet. Elias scored the game winner from Jason Arnott and Alexander Mogilny at 17:28 of the 3rd period. Elias would eventully feed Arnott for the Stanley Cup clincher in OT of Game 6 versus Dallas 15 days later.

1999-2000 Eastern Conference Finals
May 14 NJD defeats PHI 4-1
May 16 PHI defeats NJD 4-3
May 18 PHI defeats NJD 4-2
May 20 PHI defeats NJD 3-1
May 22 NJD deafeats PHI 4-1
May 24 NJD defeats PHI 2-1
May 26 NJD defeats PHI 2-1

Courtesy of The Internet Hockey Database.

 

[mvp76]

Montreal coming back to beat Boston after being down 3-1 in the series!!!

 

[UKHabsFan]

Montreal coming back to beat Boston after being down 3-1 in the series!!!

I'll go with that one

 

[dawgbone]

1990: Edmonton vs Winnipeg.

After blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Kings the year before, the Oilers were being badly outplayed by the Jets and were down 3-1 in the series. Ranford was playing just terribly through the first 4 games, and all looked lost in Oiler-ville.

Edmonton turns it around and wins the next 3 games against the Jets, then goes on to beat LA, Chicago and Boston for the Cup.

Honourable mention goes to the Oilers-Flames tilt of 1991. Game 7 in the Smythe division semi-finals the Flames were winning 3-0 when the Oilers came back and won the game in OT.

 

[Mr. Canucklehead]

Not a playoff game, but the Canucks vs the Leafs in I think 2000? Canucks down 5-1, or 5-0, and lead by a hat-trick from Naslund came back to tie it. I can't remember who won, either the Leafs or Nucks 6-5(I'm pretty sure it was the Canucks, someone correct me if I'm wrong). Pat Quinn had a big speech after the game about how big of a choke the Leafs did. I think you can still find John Shorthouse's call of the tying goal on the internet, he damn near flipped.

As for playoffs, the Flames storming back in Game 6 against Vancouver had me, as a Vancouver fan, pissing my pants, that's for sure. Series comebacks...in 1994, Vancouver storming back against the heavily favoured Calgary Flames from a 3-1 defecit to win the series on the way to the Finals. I remember a quote about it; "Vancouver is everyone's favorite in this series...to get roasted by the Flames".

~Canucklehead~

 

[jb**]

Flyers/Pens 2000 (couldn't resist) Pens win both games in Phila. lose next to at home. Both in ot, the 5 overtime game shifted the whole series Philla. in 6

On the other end same year FLyers blow a 3-1 lead against NJ

 

[Albi]

Kings-Redwings, 2001

Game 4, First round.. down 3-0 to the Wings with over 6 minutes left, the Kings rallied to tie the game and send it into overtime. Eric Belanger scores the game winner for the Kings as they win 4-3. They tied up the series and went on to win the next two to eliminate Detroit.

Hell yeah!

And...the Kings comeback against the Oilers down 0-5 at the beginning of the 3rd.
Maybe the most stunning playoff comeback of all time.

 

[firstroundbust]

I have to mention game 7 of Wild/Avs

when brunette scored in OT, the entire state of minnesota jumped up and down and screamed like little girls.







or maybe it was just me.

 

[kdb209]

Last hockey team to comeback down 3-0 to win a series vs Pittsburgh, followed that by coming back down 3-0 to force a seventh game with Kate Smith.

Of course you left out the most satisfying part - knocking off the Rangers in the first round, game 3 (best 2 of 3) JP Parise 0:11 sec into OT. OK, they did blow a 3-0 lead in the third to force OT, but what the hell.

I was glad to see all the attention the '75 Isles got during the Yankee's choke job against the Sox - as the (now second) last team to come back from down 3-0.