Once-in-a-lifetime shot

Maybe Oilers are the second coming of the 1942 Leafs, but signs are few

- DAVE FESCHUK

Oiler Connor McDavid heads into Saturday's Game 4 without a goal in his first Cup final.

If the Edmonton Oilers are going to crawl out of their 3-0 hole in the Stanley Cup final and somehow defeat the seemingly unflappable Florida Panthers in four straight games, they’ll need to channel the Maple Leafs.

Not, obviously, the Shanaplan Maple Leafs. We’re referring to the 1942 Maple Leafs. More than 80 years on, that wartime Toronto squad captained by Syl Apps remains the only NHL team to drop the first three games of a Cup final series and go on to lift the chalice, defeating the Detroit Red Wings en route.

Whatever the circumstances, the story of the great Toronto turnaround of ‘42, with Hap Day as coach and Turk Broda in goal, has achieved immortality for good reason. In more than 200 tries since, only three other teams have overcome 3-0 deficits to win a series in any round of hockey’s post-season. The most recent example: The 2014 Los Angeles Kings, who beat the San Jose Sharks in the opening round. In hockey, teams that lose the first three games historically lose the series 98 per cent of the time.

On one hand, the Oilers’ chances are minuscule. On the other, they’re not zero.