Halfway to a miracle, the Oilers' comeback is already unprecedented

The Edmonton Oilers' 5-3 win in Game 5 over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday transformed the Stanley Cup Final from a blowout to a battle.

While not as out of hand as the Oilers' 8-1 win in Game 4 on Saturday, the Game 5 win was no less decisive for the direction of the series and the Oilers' chances. 

Once ahead 3-0 in the series, the Panthers travel to Edmonton for Game 6 on Friday.

Here are three key questions and answers about this series:

How rare is it for a playoff team to force Game 6 from a 3-0 deficit?

Incredibly rare. Per Pro Hockey Reference, since the NHL switched to a seven-game series in 1939,  210 series started 3-0. Most ended in Game 4 (127 times, 61%) or Game 5 (57 times-27%). The Oilers are only the 16th team to force a Game 6 after losing the first three games of a Stanley Cup playoff series.

What about in the Stanley Cup Finals?

28 teams have lost three straight to start a Stanley Cup Final. 20 were swept outright, five lost in Game 5, one in Game 6, one in Game 7, and...

Has a team come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the Stanley Cup Finals?

Yes, but only once.

Of the four NHL teams to win a playoff series after losing their first three games, the first to do it, the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, overturned a 3-0 Finals deficit to the Detroit Red Wings, winning Game 7 and the Cup on their home ice in Toronto on April 18, 1942.

In 1945, the Leafs and Red Wings also accounted for the lone time a team forced a Finals Game 7 from a 3-0 deficit only to lose. It was the Red Wings suffering again when their quest to avenge their 1942 Finals loss was thwarted by the Leafs, who broke a 1-1 tie with seven and a half minutes to go in the third period of Game 7 on their way to a 2-1 Cup-clinching win.

With two chances to win one game, the probabilities still lie with the Panthers. Yet momentum and history may favor the Oilers.

The three most recent teams to overcome a 3-0 deficit and win a playoff series — the 1975 NY Islanders, 2010 Philadelphia Flyers and 2014 Los Angeles Kings — all won Game 7 on the road. 

Whether it takes one or two more games to crown a champ, this Stanley Cup has turned itself from a lemon to legendary with Connor McDavid-esque speed, making us all winners.