Montreal Canadiens: A historic comeback from being down 3-1 in a series

The Montreal Canadiens have experience with coming back from being down 3-1 in a Stanley Cup Playoff series that dates back to 2010.

After Monday night’s win, the playoff series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins are going to Game Seven. It took a team effort and an offensive contribution from Tomas Plekanec to do it, and now it’s anyone’s series. What makes this story more commendable was that the Bruins had two opportunities to eliminate the Leafs and advance to the next round, but failed each time. When it comes to the Montreal Canadiens though, this is a series all too familiar.

If you were to turn back time to the 2009/10 season, the Habs were in the same position the Leafs were. Montreal squeaked into a playoff spot that year as the eight seed with 88 points. It was a massive accomplishment. However, they were going into their first-round series with the President Trophy winning Washington Capitals as the clear underdog.

Regardless of the team’s performances throughout the season, the matchup on paper was completely lopsided. The Montreal Canadiens had Plekanec as their leading scorer that season with 25 goals and 45 assists followed by Brian Gionta with 59 points. The Capitals, on the other hand, were led by Alexander Ovechkin and his 50-goal 109 point season and the likes of Niklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin (when he was good), and Mike Green.

Game One didn’t go as predicted considering the overwhelming call for a sweep. Mike Cammalleri got the Montreal Canadiens on the board first with a power-play goal, but Joe Corvo tied it up nearly three minutes later. By the end of the first period, the game was forced to go into overtime where Plekanec scored the winner with seven minutes left.

Jaroslav Halak was a big part of that win, but the Habs stunned Washington that night.

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Game Two wasn’t any easier. There were a lot more goals going in both nets starting with Gionta and Andrei Kostitsyn, but the game would require another overtime as the score was eventually tied at five. Unfortunately, it was Backstrom’s turn to get the overtime winner.

The series then went to Montreal, but the home-ice advantage didn’t stop the Capitals as they took both games at the Bell Centre outscoring the Habs 11-4. It wasn’t a good spot for the Montreal Canadiens down 3-1 in the series with Game Five was in Washington and a chance to move on. For the second time, the odds were against them, but the Habs fought back winning three games in-a-row, including Game Seven to complete the upset.

What was heartbreaking for the Washington Capitals, became historic for the Habs. They became the first eighth-seed team ever to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the series shocking the entire league despite the Caps’ previous playoff woes.

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Montreal kept the dream alive that season, getting through the Pittsburgh Penguins in another series that went the distance, but losing to the Philadelphia Flyers in the East Conference Final. Whether the Leafs can do the same thing to the Bruins is hard to predict, but if any team knows anything about defying the odds and stepping up when it counts, it was the Montreal Canadiens.