By The Numbers: Lightning look to 1942 to avoid SCF disappointment

If the Tampa Bay Lightning are to come back from a 3-1 series deficit, they'll have to take inspiration from a time when "White Christmas" by Bing Crosby was the number one song in the country: 1942.  

It was in '42 that the Toronto Maple Leafs and their bitter rival Detroit Red Wings met in the Final. After dropping the first three games of the series, the Leafs reverse-swept the Red Wings, winning four straight games and their third-franchise Stanley Cup. 

If the Avalanche are to win their third-franchise title and first since the 2000-01 season, they'll have to continue to make history and cement themselves as one of the more dominant Cup Final teams we've seen in recent years. With a current record of 15-3, they've joined an elite club of teams to post the best playoff records since the adoption of the seven-game series in 1987. A club that features the '87-'88 Wayne Gretzky-led Edmonton Oilers (16-2), the '92-'03 Montreal Canadiens, the '94-'95 New Jersey Devils, the '96-'97 Red Wings and the 11'-12 Los Angeles Kings. 

Leading the way to that all-important 16th win is Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon. 

The 26-year-old Halifax native and 2013 first-overall pick is tied for the fifth-most points in potential series-clinching games from 2014-present with 15 in just 11 games. Only members of the Pittsburgh Penguins (Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel, Evgeni Malkin) and Tampa Bay Lightning (Nikita Kucherov) have more than him.  

For the Lightning, facing elimination in the Stanley Cup Final is a relatively unfamiliar feeling as the winner of the past two Cups and searching for a third only faced an elimination game once in 2021. Then, the Lightning needed a 1-0 win over the New York Islanders to reach the Final for the second