On the verge of playoff elimination, with less than five minutes remaining in Game 4, Red Wings fans stood on their feet and belted the famous words of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing”. The game that the Wings once led 3-0 was tied 3-3, and Wings fans did all they could to save their Wings from an embarrassing 4-0 sweep. With that last act of desperation by the fans, the Joe Louis Arena erupted with energy, and the game’s momentum took a sharp u-turn. After three minutes of overwhelming pressure, Darren Helm finally potted the game winner, heroically allowing the Wings to live another day. The Wings didn’t stop there though. Helm’s goal lit up more than just the Joe – it lit up the entire Red Wings franchise, from the fans to the players. The series is now tied at 3, and the 7th and final game goes Thursday night in San Jose. With this comeback just one win away from completion, the Wings find themselves on the edge of one of the greatest comebacks in sports history. The magnitude of this comeback cannot be properly appreciated without reviewing the jaw-dropping style of each of their wins. After Helm’s late winner sparked the comeback in Game 4, the Wings entered Game 5 down 3-1 in the series. The Red and White trailed 3-1 in the 3rd period before Pavel Datsyuk put on a show to lead to Wings to a 4-3 win in regulation. After staving off elimination once again, the series went back to Detroit for Game 6, where the Wings found themselves down 1-0 in the third. Once again the” never say die” Wings drew on their veteran experience and leadership to fight back to win 3-1 in regulation, a win topped off by Darren Helm’s empty netter. So here we stand. 3-3. Game 7. Can the Wings pull of this legendary comeback? Probability says no. In the NHL’s history, teams leading a series 3-0 are a compelling 159-3 in finishing off the series. But how about in other sports? The NBA? Teams leading a series 3-0 in the NBA are 91-0, never allowing such a dramatic comeback. The MLB? 30-1, with the 2004 Red Sox’s comeback on the Yankees being the only rally so large in the league’s history. So, over all these sports, teams leading 3-0 are an overwhelming 283-4, winning 98.6% of the time. It’s safe to say that probability is against them. But can the Red Wings be the exception? Yes. On an in-game level, the Wings are looking far better than the Sharks. Game 6 was completely dominated by Detroit. The pressure was in San Jose’s zone from start to finish, and the Wings outshot the Sharks 45-25. If not for Antti Niemi’s brilliance, the Wings would have run away with the game far earlier. Furthermore, it is quite the understatement to say the Wings have the momentum in the series. Since Helm’s Game 4 winning goal, the Wings have been as confident as ever, and led by veterans Nick Lidstrom, Pavel Datsyuk, and Henrik Zetterberg, the Wings have more than enough experience to pull off a comeback this big. But the Sharks are playoff experienced as well. They’ve made the playoffs for each of the past six seasons, the past three as one of the top two seeds in the Western Conference. The Sharks were 1st in the regular season standings in the West last season, 1st overall in the entire NHL two seasons ago, and 2nd in the West three seasons ago. However, despite these impressive regular season finishes, they have never made the Stanley Cup Finals, and when they posted the NHL’s best regular season record in 2008-09, they lost in the first round to Anaheim. So despite the Sharks’ playoff experience, they consistently underachieve in the post-season. That’s not to completely rule out the Sharks though. They’re a talented team with both experience and youth, and with a 5-0 overtime record this post-season, it’s clear that they can succeed when it really matters. Either way this series ends, it will go down in NHL history as one of the greats. The Wings have a shot at making NHL and sports history Thursday night, and whether or not they do, Detroit has shown the hockey world why year in and year out, they embody the standard of excellence that all teams strive to reach. They can rally from being down 3-0 in a series, can come back from countless third period deficits, and can make the playoffs for an unthinkable 20 consecutive seasons.