Recently, SI examined which teams have come back from a 3–1 deficit in the NBA playoffs—and noted that the magic of such a comeback in basketball rests in its rarity.
Hockey is the opposite. It's a stretch to say that 3–1 series comebacks are common—none happened from 1942 to '75, for instance—but they occur frequently enough that fans don't have to surrender all hope when their team drops three of four to start a series.
