Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma was only 11 and a good 14 years away from his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings when that franchise capped what’s still arguably the greatest comeback in NHL history.
The so-called "Miracle on Manchester" saw the Kings stage a then-league-record rally from five goals down at home a couple of minutes into the third period to win 6-5 in overtime on a Daryl Evans goal over a soon-to-be Edmonton Oilers dynasty in Game 3 of the opening round of the 1982 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Los Angeles would cap the series upset in a fifth and decisive game and forever seal their lore despite two other NHL teams later overcoming identical regular season deficits under slightly tougher time constraints with albeit far lesser stakes attached.
Which is the prism through which Bylsma's current Kraken team and its astounding Saturday afternoon turnaround performance in Vancouver, rallying from 4-1 down late in the third to win 5-4 in overtime against the shellshocked Canucks, will inevitably come to be viewed. Overcoming a three-goal deficit is uncommon but not unheard of in the NHL, though doing it with 4:45 or less to play in regulation and then winning had only been pulled off twice previously in the league's 107-year regular season history.
"The way we came back, time was dwindling down, but the effort should build a lot of confidence in the guys," Bylsma said after a comeback nobody could have foreseen.
A decade ago this past March, the Montreal Canadiens were down an identical 4-1 to the Ottawa Senators at home with only 3 1/2 minutes to play before rallying for their own 5-4 overtime victory. And just two months ago, the San Jose Sharks trailed 4-1 on the road to Utah with 4:28 to go before prevailing 5-4 on an overtime goal by former Kraken centermen Alex Wennberg.
So, the Kraken were just seconds away from managing the greatest regular season road comeback in a league dating back to December 1917.
There's little that really explains such a reversal of events, though some will inevitably try.
"I think they definitely felt the pressure when we kept coming after them wave after wave, line after line," said Vince Dunn, the Kraken's modern version of Evans, courtesy of his overtime winner on Saturday.
Still, there are no guarantees that making history in such fashion will lead to greater things ahead. The immediate future following such comebacks has been decidedly mixed.
That Kings team that pulled off the "Miracle on Manchester" -- so named because The Forum in Inglewood, Calif., where what’s still a playoff record comeback happened back in 1982, was located on Manchester Blvd. -- didn't go on to achieve much else that postseason or in other campaigns thereafter. Evans, author of the winning goal, has been a popular Kings radio color commentator since 1998 and likely the beneficiary of several unpaid food and beverage items in local eateries as a result of his biggest of just 27 career NHL goals in the regular season and playoffs combined.
The Oilers, of course, made the Cup Final the following season, won it the year after that and captured five titles in seven seasons as one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history.
As for the two regular season teams approximating what the Kraken just managed, Montreal did advance to the Eastern Conference Final that 2013-14 season before falling to the New York Rangers in six games. San Jose last season? One of the worst teams in NHL history. This season? Somewhat better, but nobody’s idea of a playoff squad.
So, the correlation between historic comebacks and further success can amount to a crapshoot.
If you’re looking for correlation, the Canadiens mounting a comeback from 5-1 down in the second period in Boston to win 7-5 in Game 2 of the 1971 opening playoff round was indeed instrumental to their eventual and highly unlikely Cup win that season. Defending champion Boston in 1971 boasted what many felt was the greatest single-season team in NHL history — led by Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Ken Hodge, Derek Sanderson and Johnny Bucyk — before inexplicably allowing one of the most monumental comebacks the NHL has ever seen.
That Boston team would go on to win a Cup the following season, shaking off the indignity of their blown lead and lost opening series to Montreal the prior spring. In doing so that 1971-72 season with mostly the same cast of characters, the Bruins pulled off what was then technically the greatest comeback in NHL regular season history.
They trailed the California Golden Seals 6-1 with under six minutes to play in the second period before waking up -- undoubtedly realizing they were an historically good team -- and winning 8-6. Did that have anything to do with their ensuing championship? Well, probably not much, but it sure didn't hurt.
For history's sake, let's note that the final Golden Seals goal of that game -- the one that put California ahead 6-1 -- was scored by Craig Patrick, otherwise known as the grandson of Seattle Metropolitans founder Lester Patrick.
Calgary, in 1987, would finally top Boston’s regular season mark from 1972 – and even outdo the unprecedented Kings’ playoff record – by overcoming a 5-0 deficit to Toronto with 13:58 to play and winning 6-5 in overtime. St. Louis, in a 2000 regular season game, would pull off another third period rally from 5-0 down with 15:09 to play, also against Toronto, before ultimately winning 6-5 in overtime.
Along with way, Colorado in 1999 had surpassed Boston’s still-standing 1972 record for a regulation comeback win by surmounting a 5-0 deficit with 3:48 to go in the middle period and scoring seven straight times for a 7-5 victory over Florida.
Kraken Hockey Network analyst Eddie Olczyk was also involved in one of the wilder regular season comebacks in league history, scoring twice in the final period for Toronto to tie a 1989 game against Boston. Olczyk’s Leafs had trailed Boston 6-1 with 1:05 to go in the second period and 6-4 midway through the third before Olczyk’s two rapid goals evened things and set the stage for a 7-6 overtime win.
And there sure do seem to be quite a few West Coast teams involved in epic comeback games, given the NHL historically has not had as many teams based on this side of the continent. It was almost six years ago, on April 23, 2019, when the Sharks staged one of the biggest Game 7 comebacks in NHL history by erasing a 3-0 deficit to the Vegas Golden Knights midway through the final period, taking a 4-3 lead, giving it up and then prevailing 5-4 in overtime to claim that opening round.
Still, Bruins fans will say, "Hold my beer," and point to them overcoming a 4-1 deficit to Toronto midway through the final period in Game 7 of the 2013 opening round. And that Boston team made it all the way to the Cup Final before blowing a late lead in Game 6 and losing to Chicago.
Anaheim, in 2017, trailed the Oilers 3-0 with 3:16 to go in regulation before tying it up and winning 4-3 in double overtime on a Corey Perry goal in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series.
So, there has been no shortage of epic comeback moments in the long and glorious history of an NHL that dishes out heartbreak and rewards to the best and worst of teams. Where this season's Kraken rate on that scale has yet to be determined.
"I think at different times during the year, we've had the mindset of coming back in hockey games," Bylsma said after Saturday’s epic win. "We've done that a handful of other times, but at this point in time after the (Christmas) break -- after the three or four losses coming into the break -- it was a huge test for the team to be down in this game...and the guys dug deep as a group."
But as Bylsma, Evans and anyone who ever played on Kings teams that followed the "Miracle on Manchester" knows full well, there are moments in time that can never be taken from the franchises involved. The Kraken, in just their fourth season, now have one of those signature moments to add to a history still being built.
