Oilers join rare company by forcing Game 7 in Stanley Cup Final after trailing 3-0

The Edmonton Oilers became the 211th team to trail 3-0 in a playoff series in NHL history last week. Now, they’re just one win away from becoming the fifth to ever complete the comeback.

The Oilers on Friday became the 10th team in NHL history to force a Game 7 after trailing a series three games to none after beating the Florida Panthers, 5-1.

Shortly after nearly 20,000 fans belted the Canadian national anthem at the top of their lungs, Warren Foegele somehow got them to scream even louder, finding the back of the net and giving the Oilers a 1-0 lead. 

As for Florida, they had just two shots on goal in the first period, one of which came from 170 feet away. It was the fewest shots they had in a period all year.

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Edmonton Oilers left wing Zach Hyman (18) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Florida Panthers during the second period in game six of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place.  (Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

Edmonton started the second frame with Adam Henrique scoring just 46 seconds into the period on a 2-on-1 following an ice-length pass. Florida’s Aleksander Barkov thought he’d answered back just 10 seconds later, but Edmonton successfully challenged that the Panthers were offside, leaving it a 2–0 Oilers lead.

With 1:40 remaining in the second period, Zach Hyman lit the lamp to make it 3-0. The Oilers scored twice in the middle frame, despite Florida outshooting them, 11-4.

Florida got on the board early in the third with a Barkov goal, but it was too little too late, and the Oilers scored not one, but two empty-netters for good measure.

Afterward, the crowd chanted, very loudly, “We Want the Cup.”

Edmonton has outscored Florida, 18-5, in the last three games — in the first three, they had only scored four to Florida’s 11.

This is just the third time that the Stanley Cup will see a seventh game after a team owned a 3-0 lead, and the first since 1945 – the Toronto Maple Leafs won both of those instances, completing the comeback in 1942, and then saving themselves from embarrassment three years later.

Edmonton Oilers left wing Zach Hyman (18) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Florida Panthers during the second period in game six of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place. (Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

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It’s the first 3-0 comeback in the league since the Los Angeles Kings did so in the first round of the 2014 playoffs – they won that Game 7, and eventually won the Cup, winning two more Game 7s in the process.

The last team in the Big 4 leagues to force a Game 7 after trailing 3-0 was last year’s Boston Celtics – they lost to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals, but got their revenge earlier this week by winning their first NBA title since 2008. They were the fourth NBA team to tie the series, but none have won it after facing a three-game deficit.

Only the 2004 Boston Red Sox have completed the comeback in Major League Baseball – the 2020 Houston Astros almost joined them, but lost Game 7 of the ALCS to the Tampa Bay Rays.

Edmonton Oilers center Adam Henrique (19) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Florida Panthers during the second period in game six of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final at Rogers Place.  (Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)

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This series’ Game 7 will be back in Sunrise, Fla., where just about everyone will be in full-blown panic on Monday night. 

With a win, it’ll be the Oilers’ first Cup since 1990, and Canada’s first since 1993. 

That would also mark the second year in a row the Panthers would lose in the Final, having fallen to the Vegas Golden Knights last year.

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