Game seven

A game seven is the final game of a best of seven series. This game can occur in the postseasons for Major League Baseball (MLB) (League Championship Series and World Series), the National Basketball Association (NBA) (all rounds of the NBA playoffs), and the National Hockey League (NHL) (all rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs). The game is generally played at the site of the team holding the home advantage across the series.
The nature of a best-of-seven series requires that the series be tied 3–3 going into game seven, such that either team can take the series (advancing further in the playoffs or winning the championship) by winning the game. Because of this decisive nature, game sevens add an element of drama to their sports. Aside from North American sports leagues, game sevens are also a fixture in many other sports around the world, mostly in baseball, basketball, and ice hockey leagues. Most codes of football do not employ a best-of-seven series (or any best-of-x series in general), hence game sevens are not played in those leagues. Some playoff rounds (such as MLB's current Division Series) are played in a best of five format, such that game 5 has similar qualities to those described above, though the suspense and drama have less time to build in a shorter series. Furthermore, the World Series of 1903, 1919, 1920, and 1921 were played in a best of nine format, though none of the four went to a decisive game 9.
The game seven is comparable to a final or to a single game in a single-elimination tournament or to a one-game playoff. A championship series' game seven is equivalent to the Super Bowl game in the National Football League in that the game's winner is the league's champion for the season.
==Examples==
===Ice hockey===
====Kontinental Hockey League====
In the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, game seven can occur in all playoff series. The KHL playoffs' final series, the Gagarin Cup Final, has seen five series decided in game seven.
The game sevens where the Gagarin Cup was awarded are:
Year	Winning team 	Losing team 	Score	Site 	Notes
2009	Ak Bars Kazan 	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	1–0 	TatNeft Arena, Kazan 	Inaugural season for the Kontinental Hockey League after it was reorganized from the former Russian Superleague.
2010	Ak Bars Kazan 	HC MVD 	0–2 	Balashikha Arena, Balashikha 	
2012	HC Dynamo Moscow 	Avangard Omsk 	0–1 	Arena Omsk, Omsk 	
2014	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	HC Lev Praha 	7–4 	Arena Metallurg, Magnitogorsk	
2016	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	HC CSKA Moscow 	1–3 	CSKA Arena, Moscow 	
====Liiga====
In Liiga (or Finnish Elite League) playoffs, game seven can occur in all playoff series except the wild-card rounds. The Liiga playoffs' final series has seen several series decided in game seven.
The game sevens where Liiga awarded gold medals and the Kanada-malja include:
Year	Winning team	Losing team 	Score 	Site 	Notes
2014	Oulun Kärpät	Tappara 	1–0 (OT) 	Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu	
2015	Oulun Kärpät	Tappara 	2–1 (2OT)	Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu	
2019	HPK 	Oulun Kärpät	2–1 (OT) 	Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu	
====National Hockey League====
In the National Hockey League's (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs, game seven can occur in all playoff series. The Stanley Cup became the NHL's de facto championship trophy in 1926, and the league instituted the best-of-seven series starting in the season. No Stanley Cup Finals game seven has ever ended with a 1–0 score.
The game sevens where the Stanley Cup was awarded are:
Year	Winning team 	Losing team 	Score 	Site 	Notes
 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings 	3–1 	Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario 	Toronto came back down 0–3 in the series to win the Stanley Cup. The Leafs were the first team in North American professional sports to win a playoff series after trailing 0–3. It remains the only time in the Stanley Cup Finals where a team won a championship series after trailing 0–3.
 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings 	2–1 	Olympia Stadium, Detroit 	Detroit was down 0–3 in the series and rallied to force game seven before losing.
 	Detroit Red Wings 	New York Rangers 	4–3 (2OT)	Olympia Stadium, Detroit 	Longest game seven in a Stanley Cup Finals.
 	Detroit Red Wings 	Montreal Canadiens 	2–1 (OT) 	Olympia Stadium, Detroit 	Most recent Stanley Cup Finals game seven to be decided in overtime.
 	Detroit Red Wings 	Montreal Canadiens 	3–1 	Olympia Stadium, Detroit 	Red Wings' last Stanley Cup victory until . The home team won all games of the series.
 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings 	4–0 	Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario 	First game seven that ended in a shutout.
 	Montreal Canadiens 	Chicago Black Hawks 	4–0 	Montreal Forum, Montreal 	The home team won all games of the series.
 	Montreal Canadiens 	Chicago Black Hawks 	3–2 	Chicago Stadium, Chicago 	The home team won all games of the series except for game 7. Chicago led 2–0 in the deciding game at home before allowing three unanswered goals and losing the game.
 	Edmonton Oilers 	Philadelphia Flyers 	3–1 	Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, Alberta 	Flyers rallied from a 3–1 series deficit to force a decisive game, but lost.
 	New York Rangers 	Vancouver Canucks 	3–2 	Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York City 	Canucks represented Canada's last Stanley Cup Finals appearance until Calgary Flames. Rangers won their first Stanley Cup since 1940.
 	Colorado Avalanche 	New Jersey Devils 	3–1 	Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado 	Long-time Boston Bruins captain Ray Bourque won the Stanley Cup in the last of his 22 seasons in the NHL.
 	New Jersey Devils 	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	3–0 	Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey	The home team won all games of the series. This was Ken Daneyko's final playing season with New Jersey, as he retired after the Devils' Cup win.
 	Tampa Bay Lightning	Calgary Flames 	2–1 	St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida 	Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk won his Stanley Cup after 22 seasons.
 	Carolina Hurricanes	Edmonton Oilers 	3–1 	RBC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina 	First Stanley Cup Finals featuring two former World Hockey Association teams. The Hurricanes became the first Stanley Cup champion to miss the playoffs in the previous season and the following season. Most recent game 7 to be won by the home team. This was Rod Brind'Amour's first and only Stanley Cup in his 21-year playing career.
 	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings 	2–1 	Joe Louis Arena, Detroit 	The home team won all games of the series, except for game 7. First time the away team won game seven of a championship round, in any major professional sport, since the 1979 World Series.
 	Boston Bruins 	Vancouver Canucks 	4–0 	Rogers Arena, Vancouver 	The home team won all games of the series, except for game 7. Not only does Boston became the first city to win all four major sports championships in the 21st century, but also Vancouver failed to become the third city to win the Stanley Cup after hosting the Olympic Games the previous year.
 	St. Louis Blues 	Boston Bruins 	4–1 	TD Garden, Boston 	St. Louis becomes the last of the five surviving teams from the 1967 NHL expansion to win the Stanley Cup. Jordan Binnington becomes the first rookie goaltender to register 16 postseason wins in NHL history. The road team won five of the seven games of the series, except for games 1 and 4. This is also the first championship for a team based in St. Louis since 2011.
==Comebacks==
This table below lists teams that, after being down three games to none, have forced a seventh game.
More common, and not enumerated here, are teams that have forced and won a seventh game after being down three games to one.
===Successful===
In only ten instances (five in major North American sports leagues) has a team been able to come back from being down 0–3 to win a series:
Series 	Winning team 	Losing team 	Sports league
1942 Stanley Cup Finals 	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings 	NHL
1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals 	New York Islanders 	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL
2010 Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Semifinals 	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins 	NHL
2012 Liiga Quarter-finals 	Espoo Blues 	KalPa 	Liiga
2014 Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarterfinals	Los Angeles Kings 	San Jose Sharks 	NHL
2015 Gagarin Cup Western Conference Finals 	SKA St. Petersburg 	CSKA Moscow 	Kontinental Hockey League
Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are the only players to have been a part of two comebacks from being down 0–3, having played for both the 2009–10 Philadelphia Flyers and the 2013–14 Los Angeles Kings.
===Unsuccessful===
In the following twelve instances, teams were able to force a seventh game in a series after being down 0–3, but lost the final game:
Series 	Winning team 	Losing team 	Sports league
1939 Stanley Cup Semifinals 	Boston Bruins 	New York Rangers 	NHL
1945 Stanley Cup Finals 	Toronto Maple Leafs 	Detroit Red Wings 	NHL
1975 Stanley Cup Semifinals 	Philadelphia Flyers 	New York Islanders	NHL
2011 Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarterfinals	Vancouver Canucks 	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL
2011 Stanley Cup Western Conference Semifinals 	San Jose Sharks 	Detroit Red Wings 	NHL
2014 Liiga Quarterfinals 	SaiPa 	JYP 	Liiga
2015 Kelly Cup Eastern Conference Finals 	South Carolina Stingrays	Toledo Walleye 	ECHL (ice hockey)
2024 Liiga Quarterfinals 	Pelicans 	HIFK 	Liiga
The New York Islanders are the only team to have twice fallen behind 0–3 and then forced a game seven in the same postseason; in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals (which they won) and then the 1975 Stanley Cup Semifinals (which they lost).
===Major sports leagues===
This table summarizes the above results for the three major sports leagues in North America that play seven-game series:
Sports league	Game 7 forcedafter down 0–3	Wins	Losses	Notes
NHL 	9 	4 	5 	Has occurred twice in the Stanley Cup Finals (1–1)
==References==
Category:Ice hockey rules and regulations
Category:Terminology