Panthers face historic challenge: Only one team in the Stanley Cup Finals has turned around a 1-3 record

The Stanley Cup Final is coming to a close, it could be done tonight. Vegas has three power play goals, leads the series 3-1 and can end the 2022/23 season tonight on home ice. Florida would have to pull off a historic turnaround.

It’s only been six weeks since Florida lost to Boston 1: 3 in the first round of the playoffs. As the lowest seeded team, they were pulling out the stops against the NHL’s best team ever, only for the reversal to come.

Sergei Bobrovsky jumped into the net and started to work his magic. Florida showed tremendous heart and turned the series around to 4-3. In the second round, they beat Toronto without much trouble and in the Conference Final they blew out Carolina 4-0.

But the Panthers took the wind out of their sails in the finals. They were down 0:2 against Vegas, then dropped to 1:2, but Vegas won the fourth game to lead 3:1.

Florida now has a few hours to remember the comeback against Boston. “We’re definitely going to tell the players stories for the next two days, ” coach Paul Maurice said Saturday. “Recalling the energy we had against Boston in Game 5.”

Tkachuk and Co. will have to remember that. They need to win three finals games in a row to avoid losing their long-held dream.

But turning the Stanley Cup Finals around from 1-3 isn’t easy. In fact, NHL history says it’s virtually impossible. Only one team has done it.

It was the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1942. At the time, Toronto was down 0-3 in the series with Detroit. But after 4-3, 9-3, 3-0 and 3-1, they sensationally turned around the Stanley Cup Final and won.

So history says it can be done, even if the chances are minimal. Plus, the Panthers have their own experience with it, as everyone wrote them off against historic Boston. Can they defy the odds again?

Source: NHL, MiamiHerald