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GAME 5

Esposito ticked off after goal
Tony 'O' upset?..slightly
There was a two week layoff between the games in Canada and the ones in Russia, so Canada played a couple of exhibition games in Sweden to get used to the bigger European ice surface. But there again, they got blasted by the press, both Canadian and Swedish, for their rough play when the games ended up in brawls.

The atmosphere was like night and day in Luzhniki Arena in Moscow for Game Five, compared to noisy Canada there was a silent crowd, and railings instead of glass on top of the boards. Even there, Phil Esposito stole the show. While they were presenting the Canadian players lined up on the blue line, Phil advanced to acknowledge the crowd but lost his footing and fell flat on his back. He managed to get an ovation by getting back on his knees and takin a bow for the fans - just like a maestro.

Then for 45 minutes Canada played almost perfect hockey, taking a 4-1 lead 5 minutes into the 3rd period. That's when the roof fell in.

The Russian managed four goals in under six minutes to steal a 5-4 decision and take what looked then like an unsurmountable 3-1-1 lead in the series.

The only way Canada could take the series was by winning all three remaining games.

Game5


CANADA 4 USSR 5, Moscow, 09/22/72

First Period
1- Canada Jean-Paul Parise (Perreault, Gilbert) 15:30
Penalties : Ellis 3:49, Kharlamov 12:35.

Second Period
2- Canada Bobby Clarke (Henderson) 2:36
3- Canada Paul Henderson (Lapointe, Clarke) 11:58
Penalties : Ellis and/et Kharlamov 5:38, Bergman 8:13, White and Blinov 20:00.

Third Period
4- USSR Yuri Blinov (Petrov, Kuzkin) 3:34
5- Canada Paul Henderson (Clarke) 4:56
6- USSR Viacheslav Anisin (Liapkin, Tsygankov) 9:05
7- USSR Vladimir Shadrin (Anisin) 9:13
8- USSR Alexander Gusev (Ragulin) 11:41
9- USSR Vladimir Vikulov (Kharlamov) 14:46
Penalties : Clarke and Tsygankov 10:25, Yakushev 15:48.

Shots Canada 12 - 13 - 12 - 37 /USSR 9 - 13 - 11 - 33
Goalkeepers T.Esposito and Tretiak





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