seventieslord
Student Of The Game
I feel like this is an underrated moment in a series, when an underdog team has taken the first two games of a series and then game 3 goes into overtime. It's such a pivotal moment, both for the obvious reason that a 3-0 lead is virtually insurmountable, and for the psychological reason that it can completely change the "feel" of the series in one direction or the other. There are some examples that seem to support that:
- 2001, Leafs take first two games by shutout against the heavily favored (based on standings) Senators, and are cruising to a 3rd straight shutout victory. However, two goals in the last few minutes send the game to overtime, only to see the Leafs win it on a Cory Cross slapshot. The rest is history. Leafs sweep the series. If they lose that game it's catastrophic. Sure they'd still be up 2-1 but they were the underdogs to begin with and Ottawa would have been on a huge wave of momentum.
- 2018, Columbus takes the first two games against the caps and has the chance to take a stranglehold in game 3 overtime. They fail, and of course never win another game. Washington goes 15-6 following that OT win en route to a cup. Probably would've turned out very differently if they hadn't pulled off the game 3 win.
- 2020, defending champion Blues are down 2-0 to the young upstart Canucks. The Blues have been the better team but the Canucks have ridden some luck and opportunistic scoring to take the first two games. Game 3 goes to overtime; do the Blues go down meekly or fight back? It's the latter, and then they win game 4 in convincing fashion. This series is not over but it's a whole new series now, and it hinged on that game 3 overtime.
- 2020, the Islanders take the first two games against the capitals, who get the chance for redemption in game 3 overtime. They fail, and are now staring straight up a rocky embankment if they hope to make a series out of this. It seems quite certain this one will now turn out very differently than 2018 did, and it's because of the results of game 3 overtime that it feels that way.
These are just the first ones that came to mind; do you know any others?
- 2001, Leafs take first two games by shutout against the heavily favored (based on standings) Senators, and are cruising to a 3rd straight shutout victory. However, two goals in the last few minutes send the game to overtime, only to see the Leafs win it on a Cory Cross slapshot. The rest is history. Leafs sweep the series. If they lose that game it's catastrophic. Sure they'd still be up 2-1 but they were the underdogs to begin with and Ottawa would have been on a huge wave of momentum.
- 2018, Columbus takes the first two games against the caps and has the chance to take a stranglehold in game 3 overtime. They fail, and of course never win another game. Washington goes 15-6 following that OT win en route to a cup. Probably would've turned out very differently if they hadn't pulled off the game 3 win.
- 2020, defending champion Blues are down 2-0 to the young upstart Canucks. The Blues have been the better team but the Canucks have ridden some luck and opportunistic scoring to take the first two games. Game 3 goes to overtime; do the Blues go down meekly or fight back? It's the latter, and then they win game 4 in convincing fashion. This series is not over but it's a whole new series now, and it hinged on that game 3 overtime.
- 2020, the Islanders take the first two games against the capitals, who get the chance for redemption in game 3 overtime. They fail, and are now staring straight up a rocky embankment if they hope to make a series out of this. It seems quite certain this one will now turn out very differently than 2018 did, and it's because of the results of game 3 overtime that it feels that way.
These are just the first ones that came to mind; do you know any others?
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