How many teams have swept the Stanley Cup Final?
Florida Panthers center Aleksander Barkov. (Photo by Mark LoMoglio/Icon Sportswire)
June 14th, 2024
On Thursday night, the Florida Panthers beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 in Game 3 to take a 3-0 series lead in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final.
The Panthers, who were founded in 1993, are looking to secure their first ever Stanley Cup title and could get the job done as soon as Saturday if they pull off a four-game sweep, which would make them the first franchise to do so in the Final since the 1998 Detroit Red Wings.
While it's been more than two decades since the NHL has witnessed a sweep in the Stanley Cup Final, a Panthers sweep would mark the 21st time in history that a team has lifted the Stanley Cup by winning the first four games of the Final series.
Below is a list of every Stanley Cup champion and the rival they swept in four games, dating back to 1941. The Stanley Cup Final became a best-of-seven series in 1939.
| Year | Champion | Opponent |
|---|
1998 | Detroit Red Wings | Washington Capitals |
1997 | Detroit Red Wings | Philadelphia Flyers |
1996 | Colorado Avalanche | Florida Panthers |
1995 | New Jersey Devils | Detroit Red Wings |
1992 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Chicago Blackhawks |
1988 | Edmonton Oilers | Boston Bruins |
1983 | New York Islanders | Edmonton Oilers |
1982 | New York Islanders | Vancouver Canucks |
1977 | Montreal Canadiens | Boston Bruins |
1976 | Montreal Canadiens | Philadelphia Flyers |
1970 | Boston Bruins | St. Louis Blues |
1969 | Montreal Canadiens | St. Louis Blues |
1968 | Montreal Canadiens | St. Louis Blues |
1960 | Montreal Canadiens | Toronto Maple Leafs |
1952 | Detroit Red Wings | Montreal Canadiens |
1949 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings |
1948 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Detroit Red Wings |
1944 | Montreal Canadiens | Chicago Blackhawks |
1943 | Detroit Red Wings | Boston Bruins |
1941 | Boston Bruins | Detroit Red Wings |
The first NHL franchise to accomplish the four-game sweep in the Stanley Cup Final was the Boston Bruins, who beat the Detroit Red Wings 4-0 to hoist the team's third of six Stanley Cup trophies.
The Bruins also swept the St. Louis Blues 4-0 in 1970, and were on the wrong end of a trio of four-game sweeps in 1943, when the Red Wings got payback; 1977, when the Montreal Canadiens achieved their 20th of a record 24 Stanley Cup titles; and 1988, when the Oilers celebrated their fourth of five titles.
The Canadiens have executed the most four-game sweeps in NHL history, with six (1944, 1960, 1968, 1969, 1976, 1977), while the Red Wings have managed four (1943, 1952, 1997, 1998). They were also the loser of four straight games in the Stanley Cup Final in 1941, 1948, 1949, and 1995.
The Toronto Maple Leafs (1948, 1949) and New York Islanders (1982, 1983) both have carried out a pair of four-game sweeps, and the Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, New Jersey Devils, and Colorado Avalanche have completed one sweep each.
What are the Panthers' odds of winning Game 4 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final?
The Panthers are a slight underdog on the road in Game 4, with the Oilers boasting -118 odds on the moneyline, with the puck line set at -1.5. The Over/Under is 5.5 goals.
As for winning the overall series, the Panthers are a massive -2500 favorite in the NHL Championship futures, and history is very much on their side to pull off the series victory.
In the history of the NHL, only four teams have come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a playoff series 4-3, and it happened just one time in the Stanley Cup Final, when the Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings in 1942.
The Panthers have previously played in the Stanley Cup Final in 1996 and fell in a four-game sweep to the Avalanche. They also reached the Final last year but lost 4-1 to the Vegas Golden Knights.
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