So you're telling me there's a chance?
Those aren't just the famous words of Lloyd Christmas, Jim Carrey's iconic character from "Dumb and Dumber." That's the sentence that should be muttered by any hockey fan watching their team fall down 3-0 in a playoff series.
It's hard to win a playoff series in hockey, with the NHL postseason long considered one of the tournaments carrying the most parity. It's even harder to battle back once a team falls behind multiple games.
For clubs that find themselves with 3-0 deficits, a comeback may seem like an impossible task, but it's not. Just look to the NHL history books.
The Sporting News takes a look at the four previous times an NHL team came back from down 3-0 and won a playoff series.
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How many 3-0 comebacks have there been in NHL history?
Just four teams have successfully battled back from down three games to none to win a playoff series 4-3: the 1942 Maple Leafs, the 1975 Islanders, the 2010 Flyers and the 2014 Kings.
| Team | Year | Round | Opponent |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 1942 | Stanley Cup Finals | Detroit Red Wings |
| New York Islanders | 1975 | Stanley Cup Quarterfinals | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 2010 | Eastern Conference Semifinals | Boston Bruins |
| Los Angeles Kings | 2014 | Western Conference First Round | San Jose Sharks |
1942 Maple Leafs
The Maple Leafs became the first team to overcome an 0-3 deficit and remain the only one to do so in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Red Wings built a 3-0 series lead in the 1942 championship series and were leading Game 4 by scores of 2-0 and 3-2. But the Leafs stuck around, eventually forced overtime and stayed alive thanks to a game-winning goal by Nick Metz.
Toronto went on to dismantle Detroit 9-3 in Game 5, shut out the Wings 3-0 in Game 6 and earn a 3-1 win in Game 7. It marked the first time a Stanley Cup Final went the full seven games and was the Leafs' fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history.
1975 Islanders
The Islanders faced off against the Penguins in the quarterfinals of the 1975 NHL playoffs. Pittsburgh quickly built a 3-0 series lead, causing New York head coach Al Arbour to make a goaltending switch from Billy Smith to Glenn "Chico" Resch.
The change in the crease paid off. Resch allowed just four goals in the final four games of the series, helping the Islanders to four consecutive victories to stun the Penguins. The series was capped off by a 30-save shutout by Resch in Game 7, with captain Ed Westfall scoring the lone goal in the winner-take-all contest.
In the next round, the Islanders lost to the Flyers in the semifinals.
2010 Flyers
It's hard enough to battle back from down three games in a series. It's even harder to come back from a 3-0 deficit in a game where your season is on the line, but the 2010 Flyers accomplished both.
After dropping the first three games in their quarterfinal series against Boston, Philadelphia became the third team to overcome a 0-3 series deficit. The Bruins were a goal away from completing a sweep against the Flyers, but an overtime goal in Game 4 by Simon Gagne kept Philadelphia's season alive.
The Flyers shut out the Bruins in Game 5 and earned a 2-1 victory in Game 6 to set up the decisive Game 7. It looked like the effort was going to be all for naught, as Boston built a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 7. However, Philadelphia remained determined, tying the game in the second before Gagne scored the eventual game-winning goal in the third period.
Philadelphia went on a run to the Stanley Cup Final, where the team lost to Chicago in six games.
2014 Kings
Things could not have looked bleaker for the 2014 Kings after three games in their first-round series against the Sharks. San Jose pounded Los Angeles 6-3 and 7-2 in the first two games of the series, and a 4-3 overtime win in Game 3 gave the Sharks a 3-0 series lead.
After that, Jonathan Quick and the Kings flipped a switch. Los Angeles ripped off four wins in a row to take down their California rivals. All four victories were decided by at least three goals, as Quick allowed just two goals in the final three contests of the matchup.
It was the start of a magical run for Los Angeles. The Kings went on to defeat the Ducks in seven games in the second round, and then the Blackhawks in seven in the Western Conference Final, a series that is regarded as one of the greatest playoff matchups of all time.
In the Stanley Cup Final, the Kings took care of the Rangers in five games to win the club its second Stanley Cup and second in a three-year span. The team set the record for most elimination games won in a single playoff year for a Stanley Cup champion.
