Inside The Heat

Florida Panthers In Same Situation As Miami Heat Last Year: "Don't Let Us Get One"

Shandel Richardson

Walter Tychnowicz-USA TODAY Sports
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Last year the Miami Heat won the first three games against the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.

It prompted viral responses from Celtics players Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown entering Game 4.

Smart: "Don't let us get one."

Brown: "Don't let us win tonight."

The Celtics won the next three to force a Game 7, which was won by the Heat in Boston. Now, the Florida Panthers hope to pull off the same feat against the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup Finals.

The Panthers, searching for their first title, have to play a Game 7 Monday after losing a 3-0 lead. At least they have the advantage of playing at home but it won't be easy considering the way they have played lately.

The Panthers lost 5-1 Friday and were outscored 18-5 in the last three games. They have history on their side because the rarity of teams rallying from 3-0 deficits. The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs are the only team to accomplish it in a championship series when they defeated the Detroit Red Wings.

Three NBA teams have come back from down 3-0 in any series, but none pulled it off.

“We have one game to go,” Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov said. "We were ready right from the start to play a seven-game series, and nothing changes now. We got up three, and they played three good games. Now it’s up to us to win at home.”

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Inside The Heat. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com.

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here