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Why is it the great comebacks in sports always stand out so prominently in our minds?
Likely because they simply aren't that common.
Only three times in the history of North American professional sports has a team rebounded from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series. It's happened twice in the NHL in a hundred years or so and once in baseball in an even longer time. It has never happened in the NBA.
Still, gutsy comebacks always captivate sports fans, which is why Tuesday night was such a treat for hockey fans.
Not only did the Washington Capitals cap a comeback from a 3-1 deficit to oust the New York Rangers from the NHL playoffs, but the Carolina Hurricanes one-upped them by scoring twice in the final 1:18 -- against Martin Brodeur no less -- to eliminate the favoured New Jersey Devils in seven games.
Of course, that got us to thinking about the greatest comebacks of all-time and led to the production of this week's top 10.
Enjoy.
10. Los Angeles Kings
As far as single games go, this was the most memorable comeback in NHL history. Trailing 5-0 heading into the third period of Game 3 of a Smythe Division semifinal against the Edmonton Oilers on April 10 1982, the Los Angeles Kings pulled off a remarkable comeback, scoring five times to tie the game (the tying marker came with five seconds left in the third) and then winning it in overtime on a goal by Daryl Evans. After the game, now known as the Miracle on Manchester, the Kings went on to win the best-of-five series 3-2.
9. Paul Lawrie
At the 1999 British Open at Carnoustie, Lawrie started the final round 10 strokes behind leader Jean Van de Velde but fired a 67 on Sunday to get into contention and was the beneficiary of Van de Velde's monumental collapse. Van de Velde famously took triple bogey on the 18th hole to fall into a tie for the lead with Lawrie and Justin Leonard and it was Lawrie who emerged with the claret jug after a playoff.
8. Michigan State
On Oct. 21, 2006, the Spartans trailed the Northwestern Wildcats 38-3 with 10 minutes left in the third quarter of their NCAA football game. The deficit was cut to 38-17 after three quarters and the Spartans continued to charge in the fourth, posting another 24 points, including a game-winning field goal by MSU kicker Brett Swenson with 18 seconds left. The final score was 41-38.
7. Henri Cochet
At the 1927 Wimbledon tennis tournament, the Frenchman produced the greatest comeback in the history of the sport, beating American Bill Tilden in a five-set semifinal after losing the first two and being down 5-1 in the third. Cochet won six straight games to claim the third set and then won 6-4, 6-3 to reach the final. Amazingly, Cochet also won his quarter-final match against American Frank Hunter after trailing 2-0 and did the same thing in the final against countryman Jean Borotra, eventually winning the fifth set by a score of 7-5.
6. Liverpool
The Reds found themselves trailing AC Milan 3-0 at the half of the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul. Few people would have believed a comeback possible in such a defensively tight sport, but Liverpool pulled it off by scoring three goals in a six-minute span to tie the game. Extra time solved nothing, so the game went to a shootout, where the Reds captured their fifth Champions League title by winning 3-2 on penalties.
5. Notre Dame
At the 1979 Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Joe Montana's Notre Dame Fighting Irish were taking on the Houston Cougars on an unusually cold day. To make matters worse, Montana was fighting the flu and team officials were concerned about hypothermia. As the Cougars built up a 34-12 lead in the fourth quarter, Montana was in the locker room covered in blankets and downing a bowl of chicken soup. He returned to the field with 7:37 left in the fourth quarter and promptly led a monstrous comeback, which was capped by a touchdown pass to receiver Kris Haines with no time left on the clock. The extra point gave Notre Dame a remarkable 35-34 win.
4. New York Islanders
In 1975, the Islanders became just the second team in NHL history to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series, turning the trick against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Islanders were in just their third season and had been expansion fodder for the first two before they posted a 32-point improvement in 1974-75. Few people expected them to do anything in the playoffs, but they made it all the way to the conference final, thanks to their stunning comeback against the Penguins. Amazingly, the Isles also fell behind 3-0 to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Philadelphia Flyers in the conference final but stormed back to make it 3-3 before losing in Game 7.
3. Toronto Maple Leafs
The 1942 Leafs were the first team in North American pro sports history to come back from a 3-0 deficit (and the only team for 33 years) and they did it in the Stanley Cup final against the Detroit Red Wings. Led by goalie Turk Broda and first team all-star forward Syl Apps, the Leafs were a far superior team to the Red Wings on paper, but they somehow found themselves on the brink of elimination. They stayed alive by winning 4-3 in Game 4, 9-3 in Game 5, 3-0 in Game 6 and 3-1 in Game 7 at Maple Leaf Gardens, which drew the largest crowd ever (over 16,000) for a hockey game in Canada.
2. Buffalo Bills
On Jan. 3, 1993, The Bills trailed the Houston Oilers 35-3 in the third quarter of a playoff game before backup quarterback Frank Reich led the greatest comeback in NFL history. Reich, who had once led the Maryland Terrapins to a 42-40 win over Miami after trailing 31-0 at the half, weaved his magic once again, throwing four touchdown passes (three to Andre Reed) as the Bills scored 35 points over the last 25 minutes to tie the game at 38-38. Canadian Steve Christie kicked the winning points in overtime.
1. Boston Red Sox
The 2004 American League Championship Series seemed to be going the same way as so many others over the past 86 years for the Red Sox. They were getting stomped by the arch-rival New York Yankees and fell behind 3-0 in the series. They were pathetic in a 19-9 loss in Game 3 and actually trailed in the ninth inning of Game 4 before scoring once in the bottom of the ninth to tie it and twice in 12th to win it. They then won Game 5 5-4 in 14 innings, took Game 6 4-3 and clobbered the Yankees 10-3 in the deciding Game 7. The Red Sox then went on to break the Curse of the Bambino and won their first World Series in 86 years by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals.
Disagree with our picks? E-mail yours to topten@sunmedia.ca.