Congrats, Duke basketball. You no longer have the most mortifying collapse of the month.
The Vancouver Canucks erased a three-goal lead in the final minute of regulation Tuesday, then stunned the Dallas Stars in overtime for an unprecedented win. Per the NHL, no team had ever lost after holding a three-goal lead in the final three minutes, let alone the final one.
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What makes the comeback even more absurd is that the Stars entered the third period with a three-goal lead. The Canucks had the deficit cut to a single goal within five minutes, but goals from Mavrik Bourque and Mikael Granlund in the final minutes should’ve put the game out of reach.
Down 5-2, the Canucks got a goal from Aatu Raty with just less than a minute left. Then Pius Suter to cut the deficit to one again. Then Suter scored one more time to stun the American Airlines Center.
Because no historic comeback is complete without a win, the Canucks finished the job in overtime. The game was less than two minutes from a shootout when Kiefer Sherwood put it to bed.
“I love the fight. The third period, to do that, it’s a character win for the team,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game. “My son texted me, ‘You looked like last year’s team.'”
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The 2023-24 Canucks went 50-23-9.
Did the Canucks really just do that? (AP Photo/LM Otero)
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Comebacks were something of a theme Tuesday, as the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks also erased a 23-point lead in the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The win allowed the 36-29-13 Canucks to stay alive in the playoff race, but they still need plenty of help, with six points separating them from the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference and four games to play.
If the Canucks’ season ends next week, they can at least say they did something no other team did. The Stars, meanwhile, have already clinched a playoff spot.