The Chicago Blackhawks are facing a steep mountain to climb as they look to get back into their series against the Nashville Predators, and the team’s history paints a picture of just how difficult the road ahead would be.
The Blackhawks are currently facing a 3-0 deficit in their best-of-seven series with the Predators, and that deficit has only been erased by four teams in NHL history. Two of those teams ended up having to deal with the Blackhawks, as the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers lost to the Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final and the 2014 Los Angeles Kings beat the Blackhawks in the Western Conference Final.
The Blackhawks themselves have faced a 3-0 series deficit on 13 different occasions during the Expansion Era. Of those series, the Blackhawks have not gone on to win any of them, but they have been swept in 10 of the series dating back to 1968.
One of the series that the Blackhawks will be paying the most attention to is the 2011 first round series against the Vancouver Canucks. Down 3-0 in the series, the Blackhawks fought their way back, tying the series and forcing a winner-take-all Game 7 in Vancouver.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, they were unable to come back and finish the job, falling in a 2-1 overtime heartbreaker as the Canucks took their first step toward an eventual berth in the Stanley Cup Final.
The Blackhawks have not been swept in a playoff series since 1993, when they were dispatched in four games by the St. Louis Blues. Those same Blues are also the last team that has beaten the Blackhawks in four straight playoff games, doing so as they took down a 4-1 series victory in the 2002 postseason.