Are you a Canadiens fan and still disappointed that your favorite didn’t win the Connor Bedard lottery despite an 8.5% chance? Here’s something that can comfort you.
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The chances of the Maple Leafs turning around, overcoming their 3-0 deficit and knocking out the Florida Panthers are even slimmer.
In NHL history, only four teams have managed to close such a gap before winning game seven of the series.
Four out of 203. That’s 1.97%. Agree, odds are 6/49 better than being struck by lightning or hitting the jackpot. Yet it remains practically impossible.
However, as mentioned above, four teams have defied these odds over time.
The 1942 Leafs were the first team to do so, defeating the Red Wings in the Stanley Cup Finals.
The 1975 Islanders (vs. the Penguins in the quarterfinals), the 2010 Flyers (vs. the Bruins in the quarterfinals), and the 2014 Kings (vs. the Sharks in the 1st round) are the other groups that pulled off the impossible.
Interestingly, of those four teams, two have won the Stanley Cup (the Leafs and the Kings) and one has reached the Finals (the Flyers).
The end for Matthews?
Should the Leafs be defeated in four games, it would be a real tidal wave that would sweep over Queen City. General manager Kyle Dubas and head coach Sheldon Keefe believed they saved their jobs by eliminating the Lightning in the first round.
Now nothing is less certain. And that’s even if the Leafs survived a few more days with a win or two. From now on, the professional survival of the two men depends on this improbable return.
To increase the chances of reversing the situation, the Toronto team must hope for the awakening of their offensive leader quartet. Auston Matthews, MItch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares all had zero points in their first three games against the Panthers.
Additionally, Matthews is another player whose future in Toronto could be uncertain. The first-ever pick of the 2016 draft will enter the final year of his contract on July 1. A five-year contract that will have earned him around $ 58 million in the end.
On that day, the American ice hockey player’s refusal to move comes into effect (a clause from which Mitch Marner will also benefit), leaving the number 34 in sole control of his fate.
That said, if Leafs management decides it’s better to sever ties with Matthews, a sparkling star who but never allowed his team to succeed in the playoffs, they don’t just have a month and a half half to do it.