When they took to the ice for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday (June 15) at Rogers Place, the Edmonton Oilers were trailing the Florida Panthers 3-0 in the championship series. The Oilers have never come back from a 3-0 series deficit.
But after clobbering the Panthers 8-1 on Saturday, Edmonton now trails the series 3-1. And rally from a 3-1 series deficit is something the Oilers have done. Twice.
In 1990, Edmonton fell behind the Winnipeg Jets 3-1 in the Smythe Division Semi-Final, only to storm back and win the series in seven games. Eight years later, the Oilers trailed the Colorado Avalanche 3-1 in the Western Conference Quarter-Final before reeling off three consecutive victories.
So if the Oilers and their fans are looking for a reason to believe, it’s there to be found in the pages of history. Here’s a look at Edmonton’s two unforgettable 3-1 comebacks.
1990 Smythe Division Semi-Final: Oilers vs. Jets
Edmonton was lucky to split the first two games of the 1990 Smythe Division Semi-Final. Winnipeg beat the Oilers 7-5 in Game 1 at Northlands Coliseum, and was leading 2-0 in the third period of Game 2 before the Oilers got goals from Joe Murphy and Craig Simpson to force overtime where Mark Lamb scored the winning goal.
In front of a thunderous crowd at Winnipeg Arena, the Jets retook the series lead with a 2-1 victory over Edmonton in Game 3. Then Winnipeg beat the Oilers 4-3 in Game 4 when blueliner Dave Ellett scored on the powerplay just 68 seconds into double overtime.
Trailing 3-1 in the series, things got even worse for the Oilers when they found themselves trailing 3-1 midway through Game 5 at Northlands Coliseum. But that’s when the series turned.
Simpson and Lamb scored 13 seconds apart at 13:57 and 14:10 of the second period, and suddenly Game 5 was tied 3-3. From that point on, Edmonton wouldn’t trail on the scoreboard for the rest of the series. Oilers captain Mark Messier scored early in the third period, and the Oilers held on for a 4-3 victory.
Back in Winnipeg for Game 6, the Oilers jumped ahead 3-0 in the first period, only to watch the Jets battle back to tie the game at 3-3 when Doug Evans scored with 10:43 remaining in the third period, sending Winnipeg Arena into a state of bedlam. The Oilers needed another hero, and once again it would be a letter-wearing future Hall-of-Famer coming to the rescue, with alternate captain Jari Kurri scoring off a nifty drop-pass from Lamb at 13:10. With their lead restored, the Oilers were able to lock it down for a 4-3 win.
Edmonton completed its improbable comeback with a 4-1 win in Game 7 at Northlands Coliseum. The game was a nail-biter going into the third period, with the Oilers leading 2-1 before getting insurance goals from Kurri and Esa Tikkanen in the final 15 minutes.
At the time, Edmonton’s victory marked just the seventh instance in Stanley Cup Playoff history that a team had advanced after trailing 3-1 in a best-of-seven series. And the Oilers were just getting started, as they would go on to sweep the Los Angeles Kings 4-0 in the Smythe Division Final, then beat the Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 in the Campbell Conference Final, and finally defeated the Boston Bruins in five games to capture the fifth – and still most recent – Stanley Cup in franchise history.
The Oilers would go on to win its fifth Stanley Cup that spring, losing only three more games in the rest of the 1990 postseason combined.
1998 Western Conference Quarter-Finals: Oilers vs. Avalanche
Edmonton opened its 1998 Western Conference Quarter-Final series on the road, and managed to get a split from the first two games at McNichols Sports Arena. The Oilers scored three goals in a span of 3:49 during the third period to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win in Game 1. Colorado responded with a dominant 5-2 win in Game 2.
Colorado took its first series lead by winning Game 3 at Edmonton Coliseum by a score of 5-4 thanks to Joe Sakic’s goal at 15:25 of overtime. Claude Lemieux’s goal midway through the third period of Game 4 broke a 1-1 tie and sent the Avalanche on their way to a 3-1 victory and identical series lead.
With a chance to put Edmonton away, the Avalanche took an early 1-0 lead in Game 5 at McNichols Sports Arena when Stephane Yelle scored at 16:20 of the first period. Colorado seemed to be on their way to Round 2, but Yelle’s goal turned out to be the last time the Avs would score in the 1998 NHL Playoffs. In a stunning turnaround, Edmonton outscored Colorado 9-0 over the final two hours, 43 minutes, and 40 seconds of the series.
Edmonton’s Bill Guerin scored early in the third period to tie Game 5 at 1-1. Then it was blue-collar forward Mike Grier’s chance to be the hero. First, he gave the Oilers the lead when his centering pass deflected off the skate of Avs defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh and past goaltender Patrick Roy at 13:11, then he added an empty net goal to secure Edmonton’s 3-1 victory.
Game 6 was an exercise in tension, as the Oilers spent most of the game clinging to a 1-0 lead after Drake Berehowksy electrified Edmonton Coliseum with a goal just 3:10 into the first period. Colorado threw everything at Edmonton in the third period, outshooting the Oilers 15-3, but goaltender Curtis Joseph stood on his head. Boris Mironov gave the Oilers some breathing room when he scored on the power play with less than 10 minutes to play, securing a 2-0 win for the home team.
Unlike Game 6, Game 7 was never in doubt. Oilers defenceman Janne Niinimaa scored before the game was five minutes old. Then Guerin scored with 38 seconds remaining in the first period. Todd Marchant added a goal midway through the game, and Mats Lindgren beat Roy at 1:45 of the third period to close the scoring in a 4-0 win for Edmonton. Joseph made 31 saves to become the first Oilers goalie in Stanley Cup Playoff history with a shutout in consecutive games.
The Oilers advanced to face the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Semi-Final, where they once again fell behind 3-1 in the series. This time the Oilers couldn’t come back, and they were eliminated by Dallas in five games.
Oilers Haven’t Always Been Able to Dig Out of 3-1 Hole
The 1998 matchup with Dallas is one of five occasions the Oilers have lost a best-of-seven series after falling behind 3-1. Among other such instances, they were beaten in six games by the New York Islanders in 1981, lost in five games to the Avalanche in 1997, and fell 4-1 to the Stars in 2000.
The last time Edmonton trailed a series 3-1 was the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, which the Oilers pushed to seven games before ultimately losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. Game 5 of the 2006 championship series features one of the greatest goals in Oilers history: With the Hurricanes on a power-play in overtime, Oilers forward Fernando Pisani pounced on an errant pass just inside the Carolina blue line, broke in alone on Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward, and fired the puck into the top corner of the net to spoil the party at RBC Center and send the series back to Rexall Place for Game 6.
Eighteen years later, today’s Oilers hope to get the same result in Game 5 against the Panthers tonight (June 18) at Amerant Arena, and send the Stanley Cup Final back to Rogers Place for Game 6 on Friday (June 21).
