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'It's Been Done Before': A Look Back at the 2.2 Percent

04/19/2017, 6:00am CDT
By Devin Lowe; Courtesy Wild.com

Wild faces great odds in generating comeback, but takes comfort in knowing NHL is no stranger to upsets

Courtesy Wild.com.

Courtesy Wild.com.

Ironically, rare events happen all the time.

People win the lottery, lightning sometimes strikes the same spot twice and, occasionally, a hockey team will lose the first three games of its best-of-seven series, only to come back and win four in a row to advance (or even capture a championship).

The question now is whether the Minnesota Wild can be that hockey team.

The Wild, down by three games to the St. Louis Blues, is one of four NHL clubs now facing a 3-0 deficit in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In the West, Anaheim and Nashville are both up by three games on Calgary and Chicago, respectively. Over in the East, Pittsburgh will have a chance to sweep Columbus on Tuesday night.

So just how rare is it to mount a comeback that's enough to overcome three straight losses in a postseason series?

"I don't think anyone has a doubt that we can do that," said Wild forward Mikael Granlund. "I think we all know we are capable to do that. It would be a great story. All we need to focus on is tomorrow."

The odds aren't good: Of the 184 NHL teams that have fallen into the 3-0 hole, just four have gone on to win their series.

Do the math or don't, but either way, that's a 2.2-percent success rate in a League celebrating its 100th anniversary this calendar year.

Yes, it's rare, but it does happen, and it's happened recently enough to make Minnesota think it has a chance to do the same.

Read more at Wild.com.

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Tag(s): State Of Hockey  News  Pro