Greatest Games: Gretzky to Lemieux... – No. 3 International Game

Every decade seems to have a ‘Golden Goal,’ and for those who remember the 1987 Canada Cup final, “Gretzky to Lemieux” was Canada’s golden goal of the 1980s. In the closing moments of Game 3, Wayne Gretzky passed the puck to Mario Lemieux, who fired it over the glove of Soviet Union goaltender Sergei Mylnikov.

It was the game-winner in the deciding game of a hard-fought series. Game 1 was won by the Soviets 6-5 in overtime, while Game 2 was won by Canada 6-5 in double overtime. And while Canada ultimately emerged victorious in Game 3 – again, by an identical 6-5 score – it proved to be the team’s biggest challenge. 

Canada had the two greatest players in the world with Gretzky and Lemieux. But the Soviet Union’s famed ‘Green Unit’ of Igor Larionov, Sergei Makarov, Vladimir Krutov, Alexei Kasatonov and Viacheslav Fetisov was arguably the best five-man squad of hockey players in the world.

JAMES PATRICK: (Team Canada defenseman) It wasn’t gravy that we got to Game 3. We were on the brink of elimination in Game 2. It was incredible that we were able to pull it off and force Game 3.

DOUG CROSSMAN: (Team Canada defenseman) I remember thinking that Game 3 was going to be a historical game. You couldn’t write a better script.

GRANT FUHR: (Team Canada goalie) I knew it was going to be a hard game. That was the fun part. The Russians had a lot of offensive firepower, and so did we. You knew it was going to come down to the last shot.

VALERI KAMENSKY: (Soviet Union left winger) It was the best tournament I ever played in. Everyone who remembers these games says it was the best hockey ever played, for players and for fans.

BRIAN PROPP: (Team Canada left winger) It was a crazy night. Every fan was into the game. It was like an Olympic event.

CRAIG HARTSBURG: (Team Canada defenseman) The Russians were a great hockey team. It was such a fine line between winning and losing for either team in that series.

SERGEI NEMCHINOV: (Soviet Union center) It was a very passionate game, with the best Russian and Canadian players. It was unbelievable hockey.

BRENT SUTTER: (Team Canada center) There was still a big rivalry between Canada and Russia. When we played Russia, it just seemed like our game went to a whole different level.

No pre-game pep talk was necessary from Team Canada coach Mike Keenan to get his group ready.

HARTSBURG: There was a lot of great leadership on that team. Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Brent Sutter. There were so many guys that were captains of their own teams. We talked about the game and being ready. I don’t think there was a lot the coaches had to say before the game.

PROPP: Mike didn’t say anything because we all knew how to be leaders. We knew what we had to do.

PAUL COFFEY: (Team Canada defenseman) When you have a group of guys like that, guys who want to win and are willing to do anything for each other and their country, there’s not a whole lot that needs to be said.

MIKE KEENAN: (Team Canada coach) They were easy to coach. They were really motivated. The best athletes in the game.

CROSSMAN: There were a lot of gifted hockey players. You don’t really need to coach that.

Both teams come charging out of the gate, eager to score the all-important first goal. Just 26 seconds into the game, Krutov sets up Makarov to give the Soviets a 1-0 lead.

PATRICK: Krutov, Makarov and Larionov had incredible speed and puck movement.

CROSSMAN: There were a lot of butterflies, and when they scored, it was like, “Uh oh, we’re getting off to the wrong start.”

SUTTER: We didn’t get the start we wanted. We were playing a great team, which we were, too. It was one of those series where the games were so tight. We had to keep plugging away and plugging away.

Alexei Gusarov and Fetisov each score to give the Soviets a commanding 3-0 lead eight minutes into the first period. 

RICK TOCCHET: (Team Canada right winger) The Russians just came out flying. I don’t think we were playing that bad, but we were down 3-0 at the start of the game.

KAMENSKY: We came into the first period very focused. The Canadian team was a little bit loose at the start of the game. That’s why we went up 3-0.

HARTSBURG: They took advantage of some mistakes and jumped up early. I don’t think anybody panicked. We knew we had the people on our team that could score and get us back into it. We just couldn’t fall any further behind, and we didn’t after the first period.

CROSSMAN: The Soviets came in knowing each other. The chemistry was there. They’ve been playing together for years in international tournaments. They had a bond there, they knew where each other was without even looking. We were totally different. Our team chemistry had to come together in four weeks. But the talent level of our team was so high that it did.

DALE HAWERCHUK: (Team Canada left winger) We knew there was a lot of hockey to be played. We just had to make sure we stayed disciplined and weren’t in the penalty box all night. It was early enough in the game that we felt like we could get back into it.

LARRY MURPHY: (Team Canada defenseman) We were down but not out. We were an explosive, offensive team. The ability to score was there. We had to score, obviously. We couldn’t get ourselves down any farther. Pressure was building. Sense of urgency was building. We knew we had the personnel to do it, so all was not lost. But something had to change.

COFFEY: Kudos to Mike Keenan as the coach. We were down 3-0 before people were even in their seats. Mike was always known for being ‘Captain Hook’ and pulling the goalie. But he kept Grant Fuhr in there. And Grant just played incredible the rest of the game.

KEENAN: Grant gave the team a great deal of confidence. In fact, if it wasn’t for Grant, we’d probably be down by more than three. He had given us so many great games, it didn’t even cross my mind that I should remove him.

FUHR: The Edmonton Oilers played a similar style, where sometimes we gave up some early goals, but at the end of the day I knew the guys could score goals. If I gave up three, I just tried not to give up that fourth one. That’s the biggest thing, try not to give that one up so the guys have a chance to get us back in the game.

KEENAN: We needed to change the tactics. What we employed up to that point in the early stages of Game 3 wasn’t working. So I wasn’t hesitant, nor was I throughout my career, to make adjustments quickly from the bench. In this case, those different line combinations generated a different style of play and a different set of tactics that the Soviet Union wasn’t ready for.

One of those tactics pays off immediately when Tocchet breaks through for Canada. He slams in a rebound off Murphy’s shot at the 9:50 mark of the first period on the power play.

TOCCHET: Mike put me out on the power play, and honestly, I thought he was out of his mind. The players that we had on that bench, Gretzky, Lemieux, and he puts me out there? I was pretty nervous.

KEENAN: What we wanted to do was be unpredictable. The unpredictability of putting Rick Tocchet on the power play, making many different changes in terms of tactics and line combinations, I think that was something that the Soviet Union team didn’t deal with very well. They were accustomed to rolling out their lines and defensive pairings in order. So, that was a new concept for them, and they didn’t quite know how to handle it. Viktor Tikhonov, the Soviet Union’s coach, continued to look over at our bench with a puzzled expression as the game went on.

FUHR: Once we made it 3-1, we knew we had a chance. That’s the biggest thing, we just had to trust that we had a chance.

PROPP: When Tocchet scored the first goal, that gave us a little hope.

MURPHY: The thing was to get the puck on the net. Battle. Get everything we could get at the net. Jump on rebounds. That was the result of hard work, hard pressure in the offensive zone. That goal was the beginning of it.

FUHR: We knew we were going to score goals. It was just a matter of when. When you put that much talent together, you know you’re not going to go scoreless. We knew we would get one, and if we got one, then we’d probably get two. Everybody still had confidence, and that’s the biggest thing.

A little over five minutes later, at 15:23 of the first period, Tocchet battles for the puck behind the Soviet net and dishes it to Sutter, who bangs it towards the net. Propp swats in the rebound, pulling Canada to within a goal.

PROPP: I was playing a little defensively in the first two games. In the third game, I was more open with forechecking, getting into the play and being more active because our backs were against the wall. It made a difference for me.

TOCCHET: The crowd was crazy after we scored our first goal. Then, Mike put us back out there. Me and Proppy, we knew our roles. We were fourth-line guys on this team. We did what we had to do out there, with Brent Sutter, and caught some good momentum going our way. On that shift, we wanted to get the puck in deep, cycle it, get the puck to the net, and make things happen. That’s exactly what we did.

PROPP: It was a physical game. Since we were down by a couple of goals, we had to force it a little bit more. We were very physical in the corners and behind the net.

PATRICK: Sutter and Tocchet, and guys like them, went in heavy on the forecheck and were physical, caused turnovers and crashed the net.

SUTTER: Things weren’t happening for guys who were studs offensively. So, the grinders on this team, the guys that were playing different roles than they would normally play on their own teams, started clicking. Every player on this team was a big player on their NHL team. When you get into a tournament like this, you’ve got to understand and accept a different role. You’ve got to relish it, actually.

KEENAN: The players were very open-minded and were willing to accept any role that was given to them.

PROPP: I hit the Russian defenseman, and then I went to the front of the net. From there, the puck deflected off (the defenseman’s) side. Luckily for me, I was able to hit the deflection into the net. We still had to come from behind. We had to keep pressing.

TOCCHET: It brought life to the team and the building went crazy. We knew our role was to add some energy to the team.

The Soviets strike again, with a tally by winger Andrei Khomutov late in the first period at 19:32, to regain a two-goal edge. Through one period, the Soviet Union leads 4-2.

PATRICK: For every great play we made, someone on the Soviet Union would come back and make a great play.

HARTSBURG: Mike came into our dressing room during the first intermission and said very calmly, “You’re going to be part of the greatest comeback in Canadian hockey history.” That was a huge message. Mike was calm, cool and collected, and he just reinforced that we were going to win the hockey game. We were going to find a way.

Canada was on the defensive for most of the first period but finds its groove in the second. Hartsburg levels Yuri Khmylev at the Soviet Union blueline, firing up his teammates.

SUTTER:That hit that Hartsy made was probably a turning point, where things started happening for us.

CROSSMAN: Craig had knee and hip problems in his career, and to do what he did was tremendous. He was throwing his body out there. He knew that’s what he had to do to win. He wasn’t holding anything back. He was representing Canada.

HARTSBURG: There were a lot of players in that second period that found a way to raise their game and add an emotional level to the team. Not just Lemieux and Gretzky, look at Tocchet and Sutter. It was a lot of guys who found a way to contribute, not just on the scoreboard. Everyone had to find a way to change the momentum of that game, and at the end of it, our top players came through when it really counted.

SUTTER: The momentum of everything changed. The timing to make those hits was better. We were moving our feet. We were skating better. We weren’t on our heels anymore. We were going after them.

CROSSMAN: Mark Messier would charge in and punish their defensemen. The Soviets don’t make too many mistakes. They play more like a machine together. But Mark was rattling that machine. I know he hit Fetisov quite a bit. They were going at it. And Rick Tocchet was hammering, too. That coughs pucks up and gets them unsettled.

TOCCHET: When we hit the ice, I just felt the sudden urge to be really physical, because I knew that’s what the team needed. Fetisov and all those guys needed to be hit. And that was something a couple of us liked doing in that series.

PATRICK: The way we had to play the Soviets was to be aggressive and physical and bring the energy to the forecheck.

Playing inspired hockey, Team Canada battles its way back to within one goal. Gretzky, in his “office” behind the opponent’s net, passes the puck out to Murphy, who streaks in from the point to the faceoff dot, then unloads a rocket past Mylnikov for Canada’s third goal at 9:30 of the
second period.

MURPHY: When you’ve got Wayne Gretzky with the puck, you feel confident that he’s going to make something happen. If you were open and were a good option, he was going to get the puck to you. I was just waiting for it, and it came to me. I had time to look and then just fired away.

CROSSMAN: We had the talent. One shot, and it’s in the net. We had that type of ability. I was never in fear that we could not score. We had such gifted shooters on our team.

Less than two minutes later, Crossman rushes deep into the Soviet zone and picks up the puck in the corner, then dishes it to Hawerchuk.

HAWERCHUK: I remember getting the puck behind the net and thinking, “Am I going to try to jam this in?” All of a sudden, Brent opens up in front pretty good. I made a pass to him, and he makes a great shot.

SUTTER: Dale ended up with the puck, and he fed it to me. I was 10 feet off the strong-side post, and I wanted to shoot it high. Their goalie had a tendency to go down. I was able to get enough of it, because it was kind of a scrum, to get it up over his shoulder. It was obviously a big goal for our team at the time.

Sutter’s shot ties the game 4-4 at 11:06 of the second, and so far, most of Canada’s goals have come from the “grinders.”

SUTTER: In that game, I was able to help out offensively. We were the so-called grinders on the team. On a team like that, you have to have guys in certain roles. That was our role for our team. But Tocchet, Brian and I scored. We were the guys who played on the third and fourth lines of that team.