In theory, the question suits me perfectly.
If the Panthers lose Game 7 on Monday, will it be the biggest collapse in NHL history?
This is the kind of history-based debate I usually participate in. In fact, when it became clear that the Oilers were going to make a series out of this Stanley Cup Final, I started thinking about what that play might look like. If you read me over the years, you can probably imagine how this would be presented. We would ask the question, then list a group of potential contenders for honors. We’d weigh the pros and cons, putting it all in historical context, leave out a few sentences, and then come to a conclusion about 2,000 words later.
The problem is, when it comes to the Panthers collapse being the worst ever, I don’t have 2,000 words for you. I do not need it.
I only need one: Yes. And then a few more: it’s not even close.
Believe me, I tried. I came back to the story of teams losing leads. But there’s no reasonable argument that anything in NHL history comes close to what we might see.
Let’s start with the obvious comparison: the 1942 Stanley Cup Final, the only other time a team came back from 3-0 down to win a championship. By the way, this isn’t just the case in the NHL – this is the only time this has happened in MLB, NBA, or NHL history. That year, the Maple Leafs came back to beat the Red Wings.
Does it work ? Not really. Aside from the fact that we’re talking about over eight decades ago, a series that virtually no one will remember watching while reading this. The early 1940s were also the midst of a world war, during which many of the world’s best young athletes were called to serve overseas. The NHL MVP of 1942 was Tom Anderson. The points leader was Bryan Hextall. It wasn’t even the Original Six era, because it hadn’t started yet. I love NHL history as much as almost anyone, and even I’m not going to pretend there’s any sort of comparison here.
Plus, those 1942 Red Wings weren’t very good. They had finished fifth in a seven-team league, with a record well under .500, and had only reached the Finals due to the league’s extremely strange playoff format. They were probably just happy to be there. Unlike, say, the Panthers, a team that spent weeks telling us how they promised themselves they would get back to the Finals and finish the job.
1942 is therefore over. But the problem is that once you do that, you really don’t have any realistic options left. The Islanders were the next team to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a series, in 1975 against the Penguins. This was a matchup between two recent expansion teams. It was a big win for the Islanders, of course, and a bad loss for the Penguins. But it was the quarter-final. It’s not in the same situation.
The Bruins lose to the Flyers in 2010? No. This one was also in the second round, and while there was the added pathos of Game 4 going into overtime, not to mention the Bruins leading 3-0 in Game 7 and blowing that too, it wasn’t the final. Neither was the Kings’ win over the Sharks in 2014. This one may have been the most devastating collapse of the modern era, considering all the weight of grief the Sharks carried on their shoulders, but it was a first-round series. Following.
Except there’s no next one, at least when it comes to 3-0 series. We just covered the whole story. And none of this comes close to what is happening now.
Of course, a collapse doesn’t have to come from a 3-0 scoreline. Open up the definition a little and we can talk about some of the teams that blew a 3-1 lead, including last year’s Presidents’ Trophy-winning Bruins, to these same Panthers. There was the Leafs’ defeat against the Habs in 2021, or the Flyers against the Devils in the Eric Lindros/Scott Stevens series in 2000, or even numerous collapses by the Washington Capitals. Perhaps the best candidate would be the Golden Knights who lost to the Sharks in 2019, that famous game where they blew a 4-0 lead in the third period.
Broaden the scope further and you might mention the 2011 Canucks who gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead in the final, or the Red Wings who did the same to the Penguins while chasing back-to-back Cups. We could even get into individual matches, like the Miracle against Manchester or It Was 4-1 or the Monday Night Miracle.
All of these losses were devastating — the kind of absolute gut punches that some fans still aren’t ready to talk about. These losses can make you cry. They may make you re-evaluate your fandom. They can leave lasting psychological scars.
But they won’t blow a 3-0 lead in the Stanley Cup Final, as they look to win your franchise’s first championship, in an era where the whole world can watch and the shots are going to be over. fly away.
The biggest collapse in NHL history? Maybe that’s the wrong question. What about the biggest event in sports history, period?
It’s closer to a debate. I don’t think the NBA or even MLB can offer anything close, although Red Sox and Yankees fans might disagree. The NFL could make a case for the Falcons taking a 28-3 lead into Super Bowl LI. I don’t know enough about soccer or other sports, so maybe someone can make a point. Has an Olympic gold medal race ever ended with someone tripping over their own shoelaces and face-planting right at the finish line?
I don’t know. I am not an expert in sports history. But I know NHL history and I know this one isn’t close. What we are witnessing is by far the greatest collapse in league history.
That’s… if it happens.
That’s the Stanley Cup size caveat here. The Panthers are collapse, which means they haven’t done it yet. There is still the seventh game remaining, at home. This is what we play all year to win, or so they say. The Oilers have won three in a row, but three doesn’t make four, as the Panthers are eminently qualified to tell you right now.
So that’s the issue for Monday. The Panthers win, and we all joke that it was never in doubt as the Stanley Cup rolls around the Florida rink and a new generation of hockey fans is raised. Or they lose, and they end up at the top of anyone’s most miserable list. There is no middle ground here, not anymore.
Worst collapse ever? there is no doubt. Except one: Can the Panthers get the win they need, in their very last chance to avoid infamy?
(Photo: Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)