Captain Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers face incredibly long odds as they look to rally from trailing 3-0 against the Florida Panthers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. Edmonton hosts Florida in Game 4 at Rogers Place tonight (June 15).
In the history of the NHL, only four teams have ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven postseason series. It’s happened just once in the championship round, and that was more than eight decades ago when the Toronto Maple Leafs defeated the Detroit Red Wings to capture the Stanley Cup.
But before the Oilers can even think about winning their series against Florida, they need to start by winning a single game. And that’s something that Edmonton hasn’t been able to do before.
The Oilers have fallen behind 3-0 in a best-of-seven series five times previously, and they have not been able to force a fifth game once.
Edmonton’s 0-5 record in Game 4s when trailing 3-0 includes some of the Oilers’ most memorable contests, just none that ended happily for Oilers fans. Here’s a look at those five games:
1983 Stanley Cup Final: Oilers vs. Islanders
There are the obvious similarities between Wayne Gretzky’s 1983 Oilers and McDavid’s 2024 Oilers. Both teams featured the best player in the game with some very talented teammates, all making it to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time. And both teams ran into an opponent that had been to the championship round before.
In 1983, that team was the three-time reigning champion New York Islanders. Edmonton had finished with 10 points more than the Isles in the regular season, securing home-ice advantage for the Stanley Cup Final. But the veteran Islanders used their experience to win Games 1 and 2 at Northlands Coliseum, 2-0 and 6-3, respectively. Back on their turf in Uniondale for Game 3, the Islanders destroyed Edmonton 5-1.
On the verge of winning a fourth consecutive championship, New York scored three goals in a span of 1:37 to take a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 4. That would be all the scoring that New York needed.
To their credit, the Oilers fought back, getting second-period goals from Jari Kurri and Mark Messier to cut New York’s lead to 3-2. But they could get no closer, and Ken Morrow’s empty-net goal with just over a minute to play secured a 4-2 win and a fourth straight Stanley Cup for the Islanders.
1992 Campbell Conference Final: Oilers vs. Blackhawks
Edmonton pulled off a pair of upsets in the first two rounds of the 1992 postseason, beating the Los Angeles Kings and Vancouver Canucks in six games each. Still, when they ran into the Chicago Blackhawks in the Campbell Conference Final, the Oilers were simply outmatched and completely overwhelmed.
The Oilers dropped Games 1 and 2 on the road by scores of 4-2 and 8-2, respectively. Edmonton’s best chance to beat Chicago came in Game 3 at Northlands Coliseum, where the Oilers led 2-0 early but ultimately lost 4-3 in overtime.
With a chance to sweep Edmonton and advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 19 years, Chicago didn’t mess around in Game 4. Rob Brown scored less than 10 minutes into the game to give the Blackhawks an early lead. Then Chicago exploded with four goals in a span of 5:38 in the second period to go in front 5-0 and suck the life out of Northlands Coliseum.
The final 30 minutes of the game felt like a funeral for the Oilers’ season. Kelly Buchberger spoiled Ed Belfour’s shutout with a goal at 1:23 of the third period, but that would be all the scoring Edmonton could muster. The game ended with a score of 5-1, in what is still the all-time largest margin of defeat for the Oilers in an elimination game.
1999 Western Conference Quarterfinals: Oilers vs. Stars
Edmonton came into its 1999 first-round series as massive underdogs, having finished the regular season with 36 fewer points than the top-seeded Dallas Stars. But the action that unfolded couldn’t have been more closely contested.
Related: Oilers’ 1999 Series vs. Stars: The Closest Sweep in Team History
The Oilers either held a lead or were tied with less than 10 minutes remaining in of each of the first three games. During Game 3 at Skyreach Centre, Edmonton was actually ahead 2-0 in the third period before Dallas scored three times in a 6:17 span to steal a victory and take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series.
Edmonton fought tooth and nail to stay alive in Game 4. Ryan Smyth gave the Oilers a 1-0 lead with his third goal of the series at 4:47 of the second period before Dallas forward Joe Nieuwendyk scored in the final minute of the period to tie things up. Edmonton retook the lead when Marchant scored at 6:33 of the third period, but less than four minutes later, Jamie Langenbrunner replied for Dallas to make the score 2-2. Neither team could score again before regulation ended. Overtime would be required.
One period of OT solved nothing. The teams played another 20 minutes of sudden death and remained deadlocked. It wasn’t until 17:34 of triple OT when Stars defenceman Sergei Zubov fired the puck through a crowd in front of the Edmonton net, where it deflected off Nieuwendyk’s leg and past Oilers netminder Tommy Salo.
The scoreboard showed 2:26 remaining in 3OT. The clock showed 1:03 a.m. MT. It took 117 minutes and 34 seconds to do it, but Dallas had at last put the pesky Oilers away. At the time, Game 4 between Dallas and Edmonton was at the 12th longest contest in Stanley Cup Playoff history. A quarter century later, it’s still the longest game in the Oilers’ history.
2021 NHL First Round: Oilers vs. Jets
What would turn out to be the third longest game in Oilers history occurred in a scenario that was eerily—and unfortunately—similar to the longest.
There was already an odd vibe to the 2021 NHL playoffs, as games in Canada were being played in empty arenas, as fans were not allowed to attend due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
The Winnipeg Jets had stunned the favoured Oilers by winning the first two games at Rogers Place. Edmonton blew a 1-0 lead in Game 1 and lost 4-1, then were defeated 1-0 in overtime in Game 2. In Game 3, the Oilers were in front 4-1 with less than nine minutes remaining, but Winnipeg tied it up by scoring three times in a span of 3:03 and then won the game with a Nikolaj Ehlers goal at 9:13 of OT.
Game 4 saw Edmonton fall behind 1-0 and 2-1 before taking a 3-2 lead into the second intermission. Mark Scheifele’s goal at 6:01 of the third period made the score 3-3, and before long, the teams would be headed to overtime for a third consecutive contest.
Both teams had glorious chances throughout sudden death, but Edmonton netminder Mike Smith and Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck stood on their heads. Finally, at 6:42 of triple overtime, Kyle Connor put the puck behind Smith with a wrist shot on a partial breakaway.
Winnipeg celebrated as members of the Oilers knelt on the ice, disappointed and exhausted. In Edmonton’s NHL history, only Game 4 against Dallas in 1999 and Game 1 of the 1990 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins lasted longer than this triple-OT affair at Bell MTS Place.
2022 Western Conference Final: Oilers vs. Avalanche
In 2022, the Oilers reached the conference final for the first time in 16 years, knocking off Los Angeles in the opening round and eliminating the Calgary Flames in Round 2. Edmonton’s opponent, the Colorado Avalanche, had finished the regular season with the most points in the Western Conference, 119, 15 more than the Oilers.
Colorado jumped out to a 2-0 series lead, winning Games 1 and 2 in Denver by respective scores of 8-6 and 4-0. The Avs then went into Rogers Place for Game 3 and beat the Oilers 4-2, getting the winning goal from J.T. Compher with just minutes remaining in the third period.
Game No. 4 was another one of wild swings. Cale Makar’s first-period goal gave Colorado the early lead, but Edmonton scored three times in the middle frame to take a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.
The third period opened with Avs blueliner Devon Toews scoring just 31 seconds into the frame to cut Edmonton’s lead to 3-2. But just over three minutes later, Zach Hyman responded with his second goal of the game, restoring Edmonton’s two-goal lead.
Colorado then erupted with three goals in a span of 5:49, and suddenly, with just over five minutes remaining in the third period, the Avs held a 5-4 lead. But the Oilers weren’t done yet, and with 3:32 left, Edmonton forward Zack Kassian scored to force overtime.
Unlike the last two times that Edmonton trailed the series 3-0, sudden death in Game 4 ended mercifully quick. Edmonton didn’t even get a shot in OT before Artturi Lehkonen scored on Smith at 1:19 to punch Colorado’s ticket to the Stanley Cup.
Suffice to say, the Oilers know nothing but heartbreak from past experiences in the scenario they now face tonight against Florida (and we didn’t even mention the 1980 postseason when the preliminary round was a best-of-five series and Philadelphia beat Edmonton 3-2 in overtime of Game 3 to sweep the Oilers). But on the other hand, maybe the Oilers are finally due to win one of these games when they’re facing a sweep. And one positive for Edmonton fans: the Oilers are 2-0 when facing elimination at home in the Stanley Cup Final. Something has to give.
