List of teams to overcome 3–0 series deficits

The following is the list of teams that have overcome 3–0 series deficits, otherwise known as a reverse sweep. The listed teams won four consecutive games after losing the first three in a best-of-seven playoff series.
==Background==
Three major North American professional sports leagues have playoff series that can reach a seventh game: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL).
In the history of these leagues, teams that were down 3–0 in a series have come back to win the series five times; four times in the NHL and once in MLB. The most recent example is the Los Angeles Kings of the NHL in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs. The only instance in the MLB to date was by the Boston Red Sox in the 2004 American League Championship Series. The only instance in a championship finals series was by the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals. The NBA is the only league in which this has never happened, to date.
Conversely, ten teams have evened a series after being behind 3–0, then lost in the final game of the series: five in the NHL, four in the NBA, and one in MLB. The most recent example is the Boston Celtics of the NBA in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals.
No team has overcome multiple 3–0 deficits in a single postseason, although the 1974–75 New York Islanders of the NHL nearly did so; they successfully overcame a 3–0 series deficit in the 1975 quarterfinals, then rallied from a 3–0 series deficit in the semifinals before losing the seventh game.
While seven-game series were traditionally used only for the final series of a postseason, MLB adopted a best-of-seven format in 1985 for its semi-finals (the League Championship Series), the NHL followed suit for its first round in 1987, and the NBA did the same for its first round in 2003.
Outside of the noted major North American leagues, various other leagues across multiple sports also use seven-game postseason series. There are several known instances of teams in such leagues overcoming 3–0 series deficits. In other cases, like the Swedish Hockey League, seven-game series are common but no team has yet overcome such a deficit.
==Key==
	Indicates team down 3–0 was home team in game seven
	Indicates game seven in the championship round
	Indicates the series winner went on to win the championship
==National Hockey League==
===Successful comebacks===
In Stanley Cup Playoffs history, 210 times (as of May 9, 2024) a team has faced a 3–0 deficit in a best-of-seven series. Only 4 times they overcame it – a success rate of just under 2% – and only one of those did so in the Stanley Cup Finals.
3 comebacks were completed with game seven away, while 1 was completed on home ice.
Year and series 	Series Winner 	Series Loser 	Note(s)
1942 Stanley Cup Finals 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings 	Only time in the Stanley Cup Finals and the comeback was completed at home.
1975 Stanley Cup quarterfinals 	New York Islanders 	Pittsburgh Penguins	Won eight games while facing elimination this playoff year.
2010 Eastern Conference semifinals 	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins 	Overcame 3–0 deficit in the seventh game.
2014 Western Conference first round	Los Angeles Kings 	San Jose Sharks 	Los Angeles won three game sevens in this playoff year, and hold the record for most elimination games won in a single playoff year for a Stanley Cup champion, with seven.
===Unsuccessful comebacks===
Five other NHL teams have evened a series after being down 3–0, only to lose game seven. Four of these teams were the visiting team in game seven, while the Detroit Red Wings were the only home team in game seven.
Year and series 	Series Loser 	Series Winner 	Note(s)
1939 Stanley Cup semifinals 	New York Rangers 	Boston Bruins 	Bruins won game seven in triple overtime.
1945 Stanley Cup Finals 	Detroit Red Wings 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Red Wings nearly got revenge on Maple Leafs for a blown 3–0 lead three years previously.
1975 Stanley Cup semifinals 	New York Islanders	Philadelphia Flyers	Islanders came back from 3–0 deficit to win in the previous round.
2011 Western Conference quarterfinals	Chicago Blackhawks	Vancouver Canucks 	Canucks won game seven in overtime after Blackhawks tied it 1–1 with a shorthanded goal with 1:56 left. If the Blackhawks had won, it would have been the third straight playoff year that they beat the Canucks, as they eliminated them in the second round both in 2009 and 2010.
2011 Western Conference semifinals 	Detroit Red Wings 	San Jose Sharks 	Second time in the same year a team forced a game seven after being down 3–0.
==Other leagues==
Outside of MLB, the NBA, and the NHL, there are some other known instances of successful comebacks from 3–0 series deficits. The Slovak ice hockey club HK Dukla Trenčín and the Swiss ice hockey club EV Zug are the only teams that managed to overcome a 3–0 deficit twice.
===Successful comebacks===
Year and series 	Series winner 	Series loser 	Sports league 	Note(s)
1996 WHL First Round 	Spokane Chiefs 	Portland Winter Hawks 	Western Hockey League 	
2006 Nationalliga A Quarterfinals 	Lugano 	Ambri-Piotta 	National League (ice hockey) 	
2007 Nationalliga A Quarterfinals 	Zug 	Rapperswil-Jona 	National League (ice hockey) 	
2008 National League A Quarterfinals 	Davos 	Zug 	National League (ice hockey) 	
2008 Slovak Extraliga Quarterfinals 	Dukla Trenčín 	Martin 	Slovak Extraliga (ice hockey) 	
2010 ECHL American Conference Finals 	Cincinnati Cyclones 	Reading Royals 	ECHL 	
The only goal of the game 7 contest was scored by Barret Ehgoetz 13:48 into the game.
2011 Slovak Extraliga Quarterfinals 	Dukla Trenčín 	Slovan Bratislava 	Slovak Extraliga (ice hockey) 	
2012 Liiga Quarterfinals 	Espoo Blues 	KalPa 	Finnish Elite League (ice hockey)	
2013 WHL Western Conference Quarterfinals 	Kelowna Rockets 	Seattle Thunderbirds 	Western Hockey League 	
2015 Gagarin Cup Western Conference Finals	SKA Saint Petersburg	CSKA Moscow 	Kontinental Hockey League 	
2019 OHL Western Conference Semifinals 	Guelph Storm 	London Knights 	Ontario Hockey League 	
2022 NL Quarterfinals 	HC Davos 	SC Rapperswil-Jona Lakers	National League (ice hockey) 	
2022 NL Finals 	EV Zug 	ZSC Lions 	National League (ice hockey) 	
2023 WHL Eastern Conference Semifinals 	Saskatoon Blades 	Red Deer Rebels 	Western Hockey League 	
2023–24 Czech Extraliga Semifinals 	Třinec 	Sparta Praha 	Czech Extraliga 	Coincidentally, in the previous round, Třinec nearly blew a 3–0 lead of their own, before winning game seven.
===Unsuccessful comebacks===
Year and series 	Series Loser 	Series Winner 	Sports league 	Note(s)
2023–24 Czech Extraliga Quarterfinals	České Budějovice 	Třinec 	Czech Extraliga 	After avoiding the comeback, Třinec went on to complete a 3–0 comeback of their own in the next round.
2024 Liiga Quarterfinals 	Helsinki HIFK 	Lahti Pelicans 	SM-liiga (Finland) 	
2024 OHL Eastern Conference FInal 	North Bay Battalion	Oshawa Generals	Ontario Hockey League	
==See also==
*List of teams to overcome 3-1 series deficits
*List of teams that have overcome 2–0 series deficits in a best-of-five series
==References==
Category:Stanley Cup playoffs