Has any NHL team come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs?

The NHL has seen its fair share of upsets in the playoffs since its establishment in 1917. Very recently, the Florida Panthers beat the Boston Bruins in the first round of the 2023 playoffs. The Bruins were the best regular-season team in the history of the league but suffered a disappointing and shocking defeat to the Panthers.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were 3-0 down in the second round of the playoffs to the Florida Panthers. But, they managed to avoid the embarrassment of getting swept and won 2-1 in Game 4 to make it 3-1 in the series.

With one game under their belt, can the Leafs do the unthinkable and come back from a 3-0 deficit? While that remains to be seen, it would not be the first that this would have happened in the history of the NHL.

There have been four teams in NHL history that have come back to win a series after being down 3-0.

#1 The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs

Sylvanus "Syl" Apps Sr. led the 1942 Maple Leafs to their fourth Stanley Cup victory after being down 3-0 to the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit had won three straight games with scorelines of 3-2, 4-2 and 5-2 respectively.

Heading into the elimination game at the Olympia Stadium, the Leafs had to win to stay alive and they did just that. They won 4-3 and then battered Detroit in the next game with a 9-3 scoreline.

They won the next two games, 3-0 and 3-1, and became the first team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 series deficit.

#2 The 1975 New York Islanders

The Islanders were down 2-0 and lost 6-4 in Game 3 to the Pittsburgh Penguins and were on the verge of being swept in their first playoffs as an NHL franchise. But, the Isles showed grit and won Game 4, 3-1.

Ed Westfall was the hero for the Isles in Game 5 as he scored the game-winning goal in the power play to lower their deficit to one game at 3-2. The Isles kept the momentum going a won Game 6, 4-0 owing to a Chico Resch shutout that tied the series at 3-3.

Ed Westfall became the hero once again as he scored the game-winner and the only goal of Game 7 to give the New York Islanders a 4-3 series victory.

Notably, the Isles later lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in the next round.

#3 The 2010 Philadelphia Flyers

The Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers were the sixth and seventh seeds in the league and after a Round 1 win, both teams met in the 2010 NHL Eastern Conference semi-finals.

The Bruins won the first three games by 5-4, 3-2 and 4-1 scorelines respectively, and were very close to throwing the Flyers out of the playoffs.

In Game 4, the Flyers won 5-4 in OT thanks to a Simon Gagne game-winner but were still two games away from equalizing in the series. Games 5 and 6 saw them get 4-0 and 2-1 victories and took them to an unexpected Game 7.

The Flyers had a devastating start to Game 7 after conceding three goals in the opening period. But, they shocked everyone and scored four goals, holding the Bruins off to win the series after being down 3-0.

The Flyers went on to beat the Montreal Canadiens in the Conference Finals but then lost 4-2 to the Chicago Blackhawks.

#4 The 2014 Los Angeles Kings

The LA Kings were completely dominated by the San Jose Sharks in the first two games of the 2014 Western Conference Round 1 series. Games 1 and 2 went in the favor of the Sharks with 6-3 and 7-2 scorelines.

The Kings came close in Game 3 but lost 4-3 in OT pushing them down to 3-0 in the series.

The Kings then did the unthinkable and won four straight games starting with a 6-3 win in Game 4 followed by a 3-0 win in Game 5. They completely overpowered the Sharks in the last two games and won with 4-1 and 5-1 scorelines respectively.

They became just the fourth and the most recent team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in NHL history.

Los Angeles Kings v Arizona Coyotes

The series win fueled the Kings to go all the way and win the 2014 Stanley Cup, beating the likes of the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers along the way.

The 2023 Toronto Maple Leafs have the opportunity to become just the fifth team to come back from a 3-0 deficit and the only team to do so twice in NHL history.