List of teams to overcome 2–0 series deficits in a best-of-five series

The following is the list of teams that have overcome 2–0 series deficits in a best-of-five series concerning North American professional sports, otherwise known as a reverse sweep. The listed teams won three consecutive games after being down 2–0 in a best-of-five playoff series. This is similar to a comeback from a 3–1 series deficit in a best-of-seven playoff series, which also requires winning three straight games, but these are not covered here. In addition, 2–0 deficit comebacks in the best-of-seven series are also not covered here.
All 2–0 deficit comebacks in a five-game series involve winning three straight elimination games, finally featuring a double-elimination game five. Longer series of this nature are almost always structured as single-elimination knockout tournaments, so one more loss means losing the series and ending playoff contention for the losing side.
This playoff structure used to be common in North American professional sports, particularly in the sports of baseball, basketball, and ice hockey, but is currently only used by Major League Baseball in North America.
One common comeback scenario is where a heavy favorite digs themselves into a deep hole on early adversity, before reasserting their dominance over a weaker opponent when the chips are down. This explains in part why these comebacks are rare in most sports: powerhouse teams most capable of mounting a comeback don't usually dig themselves into this predicament in the first place.
Additionally, over a longer series, teams adapt to the strengths and weaknesses of their opponent (more so than in regular season play); stronger teams are usually better at making these adjustments, which makes a "Cinderella" comeback by the weaker team that much more difficult to pull off. In team sports where an individual position has the potential for outsize impact (e.g. a starting pitcher in baseball or a goalie in hockey), a comeback can sometimes be leveraged by a weaker team off of a heroic individual performance.
==Background==
Three major North American professional sports leagues have had playoff series throughout their history that can reach a winner-take-all fifth game: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the National Hockey League (NHL). Currently, however, only the MLB is actively using best-of-five series, with the best-of-five series that were used in the NHL and NBA being permanently expanded to best-of-seven series in 1987 and 2003, respectively. In the history of these leagues, teams that were down 2–0 in a series have come back to win the series 17 times; 10 times in MLB, 6 times in the NBA, and once in the NHL. The most recent instance was accomplished by the New York Yankees of the MLB in the 2017 American League Division Series.
==Key==
~ 	Indicates series in the championship round
Eventual champion*	Indicates the winner went on to win the championship
==National Hockey League==
The Stanley Cup Finals was played as a best-of-five in 1928 and again from 1931 to 1938. Also played as a best-of-five, was a Semi-Final series, which was contested between the top two seeds in the league from 1929 to 1938. From 1980 to 1986, the first round of the playoffs was played as a best-of-five until it was expanded to a best-of-seven starting with the 1987 playoffs. In 2020, the qualifying round was played as a best-of-five as part of the modified playoff format due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
===Successful comebacks===
Only one team has ever overcome a 2–0 deficit in NHL playoff history.
Year and series 	Won 	Loser
1985 Patrick Division semifinals	New York Islanders	Washington Capitals
===Unsuccessful comebacks===
Five teams have evened a best-of-5 series after falling behind 2–0, only to lose game 5.
Year and series 	Loser 	Winner
1934 semifinals 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings
1937 semifinals 	Montreal Canadiens 	Detroit Red Wings*
1981 preliminary round 	Quebec Nordiques 	Philadelphia Flyers
1982 Patrick Division semifinals	Pittsburgh Penguins	New York Islanders*
1985 Adams Division semifinals 	Buffalo Sabres 	Quebec Nordiques
==Professional Women's Hockey League==
The PWHL used a best-of-five series for the PWHL Semifinals and Walter Cup Finals in its inaugural season in 2024.
===Successful comebacks===
In the PWHL's first year, Minnesota overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat Toronto 3 games to 2.
Year and series 	Won 	Loser
2024 PWHL Walter Cup Semifinals	PWHL Minnesota	PWHL Toronto
==See also==
*List of teams to overcome 3-1 series deficits
*List of teams to overcome 3–0 series deficits
==References==
Category:Stanley Cup playoffs