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Eruzione's
Late Goal Lifts U.S. Over U.S.S.R. As they did in every game but one during
the Olympics, the U.S. failed to score first. Vladimir Krutov deflected a
slap shot by Aleksei Kasatonov past U.S. goalie Jim Craig to give the
Soviets a 1-0 lead. Five minutes later, Buzz Schneider scored to tie the
game.
The tie didn't last long, as Sergei Makarov
again put the Soviets ahead, less than four minutes after Schneider's
goal. Craig withstood a period-long onslaught in the U.S. net, and it
looked as if the Americans would make it to intermission down by just a
goal.
Instead, they went to the dressing room
tied, thanks to Mark Johnson's tally at 19:59 of the first. Dave Christian
fired a long slap shot on legendary Soviet goalie Vladislav Tretiak, who
gave up an uncharacteristic long rebound. The puck bounced right to
Johnson, who tied the score again.
Thinking the period over, the Soviet
players headed to the dressing room, only to have the referees force them
to return to play the final second. When they returned to the ice, there
was a new man in the net. Gone was Tretiak, known in hockey circles as the
best goalie in the world. Coach Viktor Tikhonov made the decision to
replace him with Vladimir Myshkin.
The U.S. received a huge boost from
Johnson's late goal, and the removal of Tretiak. But Myshkin had proven
himself plenty capable when he shut out a team of NHL All-Stars, 6-0, the
year before.
While some Soviet players, such as Slava
Fetisov, felt the decision to replace Tretiak ultimately cost them the
game, ABC color analyst Ken Dryden wasn't stunned by the move.
"It didn't surprise me at all,"
he recalled. "[Tretiak] had played poorly in the tournament."
The U.S. feeling of elation didn't last
long, as Aleksandr Maltsev scored a power-play goal at 2:18 of the second
to put the Soviets back in front, 3-2, which was still the score when the
period ended.
Perhaps amazed to be behind by just a goal
entering the final period, the U.S. emerged from the dressing room
energized. Again, Mark Johnson provided the timely score, picking up a
loose puck deep in the Soviet zone and pushing it past Myshkin on the
power play to tie the score at 8:39.
Suddenly, the U.S. players truly began to
believe they could win the game. The winning goal followed shortly
thereafter.
Mark Pavelich found Mike Eruzione open in
the high slot, and Eruzione beat Myshkin through a screen to give the U.S.
its only lead at the 10 minute mark of the third. The goal was stunning,
and it changed Eruzione's life, but there was plenty of work to be done in
the final 10 minutes.
Most of that work was done by Craig, who
withstood a Soviet barrage to finish with 39 saves. "Definitely, it
was our goalie, Jim Craig, who saved our bacon," said team member
Neal Broten.
In the closing moments of the game, the
Soviets never pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker, as teams
normally do when down by one goal. Some have suggested because they were
never behind, they did not know what to do.
After the U.S. players unpiled from their
wild postgame celebration, they lined up to shake hands with the Soviets,
who had waited patiently. Even some of the Soviets were caught up in the
excitement in the arena, smiling and offering congratulations.
The result left everyone stunned. Al
Michaels uttered his famous question, "Do you believe in miracles?
Yes." Dryden, calling the game with Michaels offers this
recollection: "I was shocked. On the final call, the puck was along
the boards with six or seven seconds left. The U.S. struggled, but finally
got it over the blue line. There's a voice in the background saying, 'It's
over' -- and it's my voice."
In the end, even the U.S. players were
stunned by their achievement.
"We probably played as well as we
could play and we got goals at opportune times, but it was just a
fantastic experience," said Broten. "We didn't think we could
beat them, I know I didn't think we could. They were just such a dominant
team that it was even kind of ridiculous thinking -- you know maybe hold
them close, keep it respectable, but not beating them."
Later, when Broten and Fetisov became
teammates with the New Jersey Devils, they reminisced about the game.
"It was kind of funny because [Fetisov]
was saying how lucky we were and all that," Broten recalled.
"And I said, 'yeah, I know we were lucky. But so what -- we won. No
big deal.' Stuff like that. But Fetisov, he's a pretty awesome guy, he was
pretty happy for us. I mean, naturally, he wanted to win, but he was happy
that we played well and things went well. He was talking to us a little
bit that it was kind of a fluke. That if we played you again 10 times we'd
beat you all 10. And I said, 'heck yeah, you're probably right. Probably
by about 80 goals too.'"
Call it a fluke, a miracle or whatever, but
Eruzione, who still gives motivational speeches about his Olympic
experience, said the U.S. entered the game with the right mind set.
"I think we were really excited about
it," Eruzione said. "I don't think there was anybody afraid. We
were obviously anxious and you kind of run the whole gamut of emotions,
you know? You're nervous, you're anxious, you're excited. You're like a
little kid at Christmastime waiting for Christmas to come."
On Feb. 22, 1980, Christmas came two months
late in the tiny upstate New York village of Lake Placid.
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