9781422284254

GREATEST MOMENTS

The Great Comeback

In a best-of-seven series, a 3–0 lead is a firm stranglehold. At the end of the 2015 season, 181 playoff series had been led three games to none. Out of these, only four times (about 2 percent) has the trailing team come back to win. Only one time has it happened with the Stanley Cup on the line. In 1942, the Toronto Maple Leafs were ahead 2–0 in game three of the Stanley Cup Final against Detroit, only to blow it and lose 5–2. This put them down 3–0 in the series. Leafs coach Hap Day gambled and benched his top line wingers for two rookies in game four. Tied 3–3 in the third period, one of those rookies, Don Metz, scored the winning goal. Metz then scored a hat trick the next game, a 9–3 win. Turk Broda got the shutout in game six, and the Leafs pulled off a miracle comeback with a 3–1 win in game seven.

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