Stumbled upon this month old thread by u/Erection_Protection9 about playoff series where the team that got outscored still won and I do know of a more extreme example than any in the thread. It’s also the story of a hell of a season comeback so I figured I’d do a write-up. TLDR with score lines at the bottom if the magic of Swedish second division hockey bores you.
Leksand entered the 15-16 Hockeyallsvenskan season as one of the favourites having been relegated from the SHL the year before. They started horribly and were briefly last in the standings late November (tifo of the table made the next season) before firing their coach and starting a climb that eventually had them finish the regular season in 4th place.
The promotion playoffs were quite convoluted back then: The top two teams played each other in BO5 final where the winner moved on to a BO7 against the last placed team in the SHL for the SHL spot. Teams 3-8 played a single round robin where the the top three started with bonus points (3-2-1) and the winner got to play the loser of the final in a BO3. The winner of that matchup moved on to a BO7 against the second bottom team in the SHL for the other SHL spot. SHL teams got home advantage with every other game at home.
Leksand had a pretty bad round robin losing 2 out of 4 games heading into the last match. But the two bonus points and some luck with other results meant they where still alive, three points behind top placed local rivals Mora with one game to go playing Mora specifically. Goal differential was the tiebreaker though and Leksand were 7 goals behind, meaning they needed to win by 4 to prolong the season. Somehow they moved to 4-0 early in the third despite the game being hard fought, and two empty netters and 6-0 in the score column moved them through. An easy dismissal of final losers Tingsryd set them up for a BO7 against heavily favoured SHL team Modo for a spot in the top league.
Modo were confident, and rightly so. They had an expensive squad with a lot of NHL experience that had underperformed, but they were massively stronger than Leksand on paper. They also got off to an easy 5-0 win at home followed by 0-4 in Leksand to be up 2-0 in the series. Everyone had put the series in the books and most were still impressed with the unbelievable comeback Leksand had made from last in the league to be playing for promotion.
Game three looked about the same. Modo dominated but Leksand were tighter defensively and somehow managed to win 1-2 in OT. Game four was the same story with Modo outshooting Leksand 30-13, but Leksand won 2-1 after scoring on their only shot in the third period.
2-2 in the series and Leksand somehow had hope going on the road for game five. It was boys against men and they got their asses handed to them, 7-1. Game six at home was maybe the only game that looked even, and Leksand managed to eke out a 5-4 win to force a game 7.
Leksand took the lead early in game 7 but Modo quickly equalised and it was clear that they were not going to let this slip, outshooting Leksand 50-18. Leksand had 4 shots in the second period and hadn’t yet had a single shot in the third period with 8 minutes to go. Modo were up 3-1 at this point, a lead that should have been bigger. Here’s a video of the conclusion from then on. An errant shot hits a Leksand attacker in the chest and trickles in. Modo does not waver though and keeps the pressure up, outshooting Leksand 19-4 in the third, but Leksand wins the period 2-0. This because with less than a minute to go Leksand managed to get their first set up attack with their goalie pulled and a D-man slapper finds the back of the net. Peter Forsberg (Modo legend) is furious in the stands, throws his match program and leaves his seat. Modo still manages to miss two grade A chances before the horn sounds for regulation.
Modo owns the OT and keeps missing chances. Then, five minutes in, this happens. Brock Montpetit, flying through the air like Orr, shoots the last shot of his career completing the most fairytale like season and the craziest of playoff series where much more than just moving on in a bracket was in the pot. Leksand was promoted back to the SHL… only to get relegated again next year losing to Mora, but we don’t talk about that.
TLDR of the scores in this playoff series that was completely dominated by Modo but won by Leksand:
1: Modo win 5-0 (Shots: 31-26 Modo)
2: Modo win 0-4 (Shots: 32-25 Leksand)
3: Leksand win 1-2 OT (Shots: 33-22 Modo)
4: Leksand win 2-1 (Shots: 13-30 Modo)
5: Modo win 7-1 (Shots: 35-31 Modo)
6: Leksand win 5-4 (Shots: 27-33 Modo)
7: Leksand win 3-4 OT (Shots: 50-18 Modo)
Leksand scored 14 goals on 169 shots (8.3%)
Modo scored 25 goals on 237 shots (10.5%)
Goal differential for Leksand: -11.
Are there any worse winning goal differentials than this one out there in the world of pro hockey?