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GAME 8

the most famous goal in Hockey History
The Goal.
Game Eight began even before the puck was dropped when the Russian delegation (never short of tricks) informed the Canadians that their choice of referee for the game wouldn't be available and that the guy who refereed (poorly) in Game Six would be in for Game Eight.

As the trips to the penalty box multiplied for Canada, the Russians opened the scoring on a five on three powerplay, but Esposito tied it up.

The Russians took the lead back on a goal by Lutchenko, again on the powerplay, but Park tied it up before the end of the first frame.

In the second the penalties cooled down but not the Russians, as they put three goals past Dryden while Bill White got one back for Canada.

It was still a two goal lead for Russia heading into the 3rd. Peter Mahovlich came out flying and dug the puck loose in the corner, passed it to Esposito in his office in front of the net, and Espo put it in at the 2:27 mark. Suddenly, Canada was within one.

Then at 12:56 Yvan Cournoyer scored the equalizer taking a rebound in the slot and shooting a backhand past Tretiak.

Before the game could be decided another incident had to happen. It involved Alan Eagleson, who was then the NHL player rep. When Cournoyer scored, the goal light didn't go on, which prompted Eagleson to jump from his seat towards the boards. He was then grabbed by Russian army officers who tried to carry him away from the rink. Then the whole Canadian team came over to the boards and Peter Mahovlich jumped over and slashed one of the Russian guards. The players grabbed Eagleson and carried him across the ice to the team bench. Meanwhile, the crowd was booing and the Canadians were responding with the one finger salute and the no less polite "up yours" universal symbol.

it's finally over
The war is over..WE WIN.
And then came the grand finale. With under one minute left the puck was in the Russian end and Peter Mahovlich for some reason came over to the Canadian bench. Paul Henderson jumped on the ice and Cournoyer, who had the puck on the right boards, tried to pass it cross ice to Henderson coming in from the bench. But the pass missed him and Henderson went right through, crashing into the boards behind the net. Meanwhile, a Russian defender tried to clear the puck, which bounced back near the net, but he lost it. Esposito took a whack at it and it bounced towards the net and Henderson, who got back up and headed for the front of the net, picked it up. He tried to shoot it between Tretiak's legs, but wasstopped. But the rebound came back to Henderson and he buried it past a sprawling Tretiak and, as the cliche goes, the rest is history.

Game8


CANADA 6 USSR 5, Moscow, 09/28/72

First Period
1- USSR Alexander Yakushev (Maltsev, Liapkin) 3:34
2- Canada Phil Esposito (Park) 6:45
3- USSR Vladimir Lutchenko (Kharlamov) 13:10
4- Canada Brad Park (Ratelle, Hull) 16:59
Penalties : White 2:25, P.Mahovlich 3:01, Petrov 3:44, Parise (minor and game misconduct) 4:10, Tsygankov 6:28, Ellis 9:27, Petrov 9:46, Cournoyer 12:51.

Second Period
5- USSR Vladimir Shadrin (Unassisted) 0:21
6- Canada Bill White (Ratelle, Gilbert) 10:32
7- USSR Alexander Yakushev (Unassisted) 11:43
8- USSR Valery Vasiliev (Unassisted) 16:44
Penalties : Stapleton 14:58, Kuzkin 18:06.

Third Period
9- Canada P.Esposito (P.Mahovlich) 2:27
10- Canada Yvan Cournoyer (P.Esposito, Park) 12:56
11- Canada Paul Henderson (P.Esposito) 19:26
Penalties : Mishakov and Gilbert (majors) 3:41, Vasiliev 4:27, Hull and Petrov 15:24.

Shots Canada 14 - 8 - 13 - 35 /USSR 12 - 10 - 5 - 27
Goalkeepers Dryden and Tretiak





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