Game seven

Syl Apps of the Toronto Maple Leafs after Game 7 of the 1942 Stanley Cup Finals

A game seven is the final game of a best of seven series. This game can occur in the postseasons for Major League Baseball (MLB) (League Championship Series and World Series), the National Basketball Association (NBA) (all rounds of the NBA playoffs), and the National Hockey League (NHL) (all rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs). The game is generally played at the site of the team holding the home advantage across the series.

The nature of a best-of-seven series requires that the series be tied 3–3 going into game seven, such that either team can take the series (advancing further in the playoffs or winning the championship) by winning the game. Because of this decisive nature, game sevens add an element of drama to their sports. Aside from North American sports leagues, game sevens are also a fixture in many other sports around the world, mostly in baseball, basketball, and ice hockey leagues. Most codes of football do not employ a best-of-seven series (or any best-of-x series in general), hence game sevens are not played in those leagues. Some playoff rounds (such as MLB's current Division Series) are played in a best of five format, such that game 5 has similar qualities to those described above, though the suspense and drama have less time to build in a shorter series. Furthermore, the World Series of 1903, 1919, 1920, and 1921 were played in a best of nine format, though none of the four went to a decisive game 9.

The game seven is comparable to a final or to a single game in a single-elimination tournament or to a one-game playoff. A championship series' game seven is equivalent to the Super Bowl game in the National Football League in that the game's winner is the league's champion for the season.

Examples

Ice hockey

Kontinental Hockey League

In the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) playoffs, game seven can occur in all playoff series. The KHL playoffs' final series, the Gagarin Cup Final, has seen five series decided in game seven.

The game sevens where the Gagarin Cup was awarded are:

Year	Winning team	Losing team	Score	Site	Notes
2009	Ak Bars Kazan	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl	1–0	TatNeft Arena, Kazan	Inaugural season for the Kontinental Hockey League after it was reorganized from the former Russian Superleague.
2010	Ak Bars Kazan	HC MVD	0–2	Balashikha Arena, Balashikha
2012	HC Dynamo Moscow	Avangard Omsk	0–1	Arena Omsk, Omsk
2014	Metallurg Magnitogorsk	HC Lev Praha	7–4	Arena Metallurg, Magnitogorsk
2016		HC CSKA Moscow	1–3	CSKA Arena, Moscow

Liiga

In Liiga (or Finnish Elite League) playoffs, game seven can occur in all playoff series except the wild-card rounds. The Liiga playoffs' final series has seen several series decided in game seven.

The game sevens where Liiga awarded gold medals and the Kanada-malja include:

Year	Winning team	Losing team	Score	Site	Notes
2014	Oulun Kärpät	Tappara	1–0 (OT)	Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu
2015	Oulun Kärpät	Tappara	2–1 (2OT)	Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu
2019	HPK	Oulun Kärpät	2–1 (OT)	Oulun Energia Areena, Oulu

National Hockey League

In the National Hockey League's (NHL) Stanley Cup playoffs, game seven can occur in all playoff series. The Stanley Cup became the NHL's de facto championship trophy in 1926, and the league instituted the best-of-seven series starting in the 1938–39 season. No Stanley Cup Finals game seven has ever ended with a 1–0 score.

The game sevens where the Stanley Cup was awarded are:

Year	Winning team	Losing team	Score	Site	Notes
1942	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings	3–1	Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario	Toronto came back down 0–3 in the series to win the Stanley Cup. The Leafs were the first team in North American professional sports to win a playoff series after trailing 0–3. It remains the only time in the Stanley Cup Finals where a team won a championship series after trailing 0–3.
1945	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings	2–1	Olympia Stadium, Detroit	Detroit was down 0–3 in the series and rallied to force game seven before losing.
1950	Detroit Red Wings	New York Rangers	4–3 (2OT)	Olympia Stadium, Detroit	Longest game seven in a Stanley Cup Finals.
1954	Detroit Red Wings	Montreal Canadiens	2–1 (OT)	Olympia Stadium, Detroit	Most recent Stanley Cup Finals game seven to be decided in overtime.
1955	Detroit Red Wings	Montreal Canadiens	3–1	Olympia Stadium, Detroit	Red Wings' last Stanley Cup victory until 1997. The home team won all games of the series.
1964	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings	4–0	Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, Ontario	First game seven that ended in a shutout.
1965	Montreal Canadiens	Chicago Black Hawks	4–0	Montreal Forum, Montreal	The home team won all games of the series.
1971	Montreal Canadiens	Chicago Black Hawks	3–2	Chicago Stadium, Chicago	The home team won all games of the series except for game 7. Chicago led 2–0 in the deciding game at home before allowing three unanswered goals and losing the game.
1987	Edmonton Oilers	Philadelphia Flyers	3–1	Northlands Coliseum, Edmonton, Alberta	Flyers rallied from a 3–1 series deficit to force a decisive game, but lost.
1994	New York Rangers	Vancouver Canucks	3–2	Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, New York City	Canucks represented Canada's last Stanley Cup Finals appearance until 2004 Calgary Flames. Rangers won their first Stanley Cup since 1940.
2001	Colorado Avalanche	New Jersey Devils	3–1	Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado	Long-time Boston Bruins captain Ray Bourque won the Stanley Cup in the last of his 22 seasons in the NHL.
2003	New Jersey Devils	Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	3–0	Continental Airlines Arena, East Rutherford, New Jersey	The home team won all games of the series. This was Ken Daneyko's final playing season with New Jersey, as he retired after the Devils' Cup win.
2004	Tampa Bay Lightning	Calgary Flames	2–1	St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Florida	Lightning captain Dave Andreychuk won his Stanley Cup after 22 seasons.
2006	Carolina Hurricanes	Edmonton Oilers	3–1	RBC Center, Raleigh, North Carolina	First Stanley Cup Finals featuring two former World Hockey Association teams. The Hurricanes became the first Stanley Cup champion to miss the playoffs in the previous season and the following season. Most recent game 7 to be won by the home team. This was Rod Brind'Amour's first and only Stanley Cup in his 21-year playing career.
2009	Pittsburgh Penguins	Detroit Red Wings	2–1	Joe Louis Arena, Detroit	The home team won all games of the series, except for game 7. First time the away team won game seven of a championship round, in any major professional sport, since the 1979 World Series.
2011	Boston Bruins	Vancouver Canucks	4–0	Rogers Arena, Vancouver	The home team won all games of the series, except for game 7. Not only does Boston became the first city to win all four major sports championships in the 21st century, but also Vancouver failed to become the third city to win the Stanley Cup after hosting the Olympic Games the previous year.
2019	St. Louis Blues	Boston Bruins	4–1	TD Garden, Boston	St. Louis becomes the last of the five surviving teams from the 1967 NHL expansion to win the Stanley Cup. Jordan Binnington becomes the first rookie goaltender to register 16 postseason wins in NHL history. The road team won five of the seven games of the series, except for games 1 and 4. This is also the first championship for a team based in St. Louis since 2011.

Comebacks

This table below lists teams that, after being down three games to none, have forced a seventh game.

Further information: List of teams to overcome 3–0 series deficits

More common, and not enumerated here, are teams that have forced and won a seventh game after being down three games to one.

Further information: List of teams to overcome 3–1 series deficits

Successful

In only ten instances (five in major North American sports leagues) has a team been able to come back from being down 0–3 to win a series:

Series	Winning team	Losing team	Sports league
1942 Stanley Cup Finals	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings	NHL
1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals	New York Islanders	Pittsburgh Penguins	NHL
2010 Stanley Cup Eastern Conference Semifinals	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins	NHL
2012 Liiga Quarter-finals	Espoo Blues	KalPa	Liiga
2014 Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarterfinals	Los Angeles Kings	San Jose Sharks	NHL
2015 Gagarin Cup Western Conference Finals	SKA St. Petersburg	CSKA Moscow	Kontinental Hockey League

Mike Richards and Jeff Carter are the only players to have been a part of two comebacks from being down 0–3, having played for both the 2009–10 Philadelphia Flyers and the 2013–14 Los Angeles Kings.

Unsuccessful

In the following twelve instances, teams were able to force a seventh game in a series after being down 0–3, but lost the final game:

Series	Winning team	Losing team	Sports league
1939 Stanley Cup Semifinals	Boston Bruins	New York Rangers	NHL
1945 Stanley Cup Finals	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings	NHL
1975 Stanley Cup Semifinals	Philadelphia Flyers	New York Islanders	NHL
2011 Stanley Cup Western Conference Quarterfinals	Vancouver Canucks	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL
2011 Stanley Cup Western Conference Semifinals	San Jose Sharks	Detroit Red Wings	NHL
2014 Liiga Quarterfinals	SaiPa	JYP	Liiga
2015 Kelly Cup Eastern Conference Finals	South Carolina Stingrays	Toledo Walleye	ECHL (ice hockey)
2024 Liiga Quarterfinals	Pelicans	HIFK	Liiga

The New York Islanders are the only team to have twice fallen behind 0–3 and then forced a game seven in the same postseason; in the 1975 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals (which they won) and then the 1975 Stanley Cup Semifinals (which they lost).^{[citation needed]}

Major sports leagues

This table summarizes the above results for the three major sports leagues in North America that play seven-game series:

Sports league	Game 7 forced after down 0–3	Wins	Losses	Notes
NHL	9	4	5	Has occurred twice in the Stanley Cup Finals (1–1)