It would be considered the most infamous collapse in Stanley Cup playoff history.
Only three teams have come back from a 3-0 disadvantage to win a playoff series, the most recent being last year's Philadelphia Flyers. But among those teams that have fumbled such commanding leads, none had the kind of regular-season credentials that matched the Vancouver Canucks'.
Yes, it may seem premature to be talking about a Game 7 showdown between the Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks when there is a Game 6 still to be played. But given the manner in which Vancouver has lost the last two games to give the defending Stanley Cup champions new life in their first-round matchup, it's a topic worthy of discussion.
Besides, most of Vancouver is already thinking the same thing, certainly after the Canucks' 5-0 loss Thursday, which followed a 7-2 hammering two days earlier. The city is losing its mind.
Many hockey historians consider the 3-0 meltdown by Pittsburgh against the New York Islanders in 1975 as the worst crumble by an NHL team that held such a stranglehold in a series. The Islanders had been in the NHL only three seasons at that point and had never beaten the Penguins until they began their improbable march to victory after losing the first three games.
But a team like Vancouver - which breezed to first place overall during the regular season with 117 points and led the league in both goals scored and goals against - has never disintegrated after holding a 3-0 series lead. The Canucks were the prohibitive favourite to win the Stanley Cup against a squad that backed into the playoffs on the final day of the regular season.
No, should the Canucks lose the next two games and bow out of this postseason, they will own a unique and sadly legendary place in Stanley Cup lore.
Of course, they could stifle such unpleasant talk by reverting to regular-season form and beating the Blackhawks on Sunday. Hockey is a strange game. Momentum can shift dramatically around a goal, a hit, or some unexpected event. The Canucks are hoping that will be the case.
Right now, however, Vancouver looks spooked by their arch-rivals. And no one looks more perplexed than Roberto Luongo, who, we are told, will start Game 6. His coach, Alain Vigneault, confirmed this after the team's 5-0 shellacking on Thursday night.
Many are questioning that decision. Or at least the haste at which it was made.
So let's play this out a bit. Luongo starts Game 6 and loses again. Maybe he isn't pulled but his play is indifferent. He isn't the difference maker. Perhaps he's let in one or two he should have had. Do the Canucks go back with him for Game 7 given the way he's played in the previous three games? Or do they start backup Cory Schneider, who had a phenomenal regular season and acquitted himself nicely in mop-up duties in the two games this series in which Luongo was pulled.
Throwing your backup into a do-or-die Game 7 seems unthinkable. The game to do it is Game 6, where the Canucks still have one more outing with which to play. If Schneider loses, the team goes back to Luongo for the all-the-marbles finale and have him rested and ready to reassert himself.
It is probably moot at this point. Vigneault can be famously stubborn and he seems determined to live or die with his No. 1 goaltender. At the rate things are going, he could very well die with him.
We will quickly add here that the two lopsided losses haven't entirely been Luongo's fault. The whole team has stunk. But for whatever reason, the players seem to be feeding off their goalie's shaky play and it is creating all manner of problems rarely witnessed during the 82 games the Canucks played before the playoffs began.
It might be worth noting that when the Islanders fell behind 3-0 to Pittsburgh in 1975, their comeback was sparked by a mid-series goaltending change - Chico Resch for Billy Smith.
Maybe if the Penguins had made the same move, things might have turned out differently.
Gary Mason