GAME FOUR
Russians win 5-3 in B.C., go home as favorites
By DAN PROUDFOOT
Globe and Mail reporter
Saturday, September 9, 1972
VANCOUVER - They came with praise for the professionals, and modest suggestions they might learn from the best of the National Hockey League. But the Soviet Union Nationals return to Moscow today as logical favorites to win their eight-game series with Team Canada.
Their decisive 5-3 win here last night gave them the edge in the Canadian portion of the series. The initial embarrassment to the NHL, a 7-3 loss in the opener at Montreal, was followed by a wild 4-1 Team Canada win at Toronto and a 4-4 tie in Winnipeg.
Goaltending, strong disciplined teamwork and superior conditioning were major factors in the four-game lesson which showed there is more to the sport than the fans have been fed by the NHL.
Team Canada was booed by the 15,570 at Pacific Coliseum, which led Phil Esposito to say in a post-game interview that Team Canada has an excellent chance at Moscow if Russian fans give equal support to their home team.
But the supporting cast of players who dragged behind Esposito's grinding effort would have had little chance anywhere. And when Team Canada does reach Moscow Sept. 22, it will find a hostile crowd, a wider ice surface which gives the mobile Russians more skating room, and all the small aggravations that put a visiting team at a disadvantage.
The Russians hope to see Bobby Orr recuperate from his knee surgery in time to play at Moscow. But they don't hope as much as manager-coach Harry Sinden and the other members of Team Canada, who are concerned about winning.
Orr skated yesterday, but the prospects of his playing are still uncertain. Interest in the remainder of the series depends on his joining the team, because the Soviet Nationals are sure to be stronger with the addition of such players as Anatoli Firsov.
The Canadians weren't strong enough as a team last night because for the first time in the series Sinden's moves didn't turn out for the best. Confronted with unrest among players who missed the first three games or two of the three, Sinden made several changes from the lineup which won and tied for him.
The problem facing the Canadian manager-coach was one known by every kids' team in the country: do you stick with the winning lineup or do you get everyone in the game. With the extra consideration of fatigue among his regulars, who had played three games in five nights, Sinden chose to bring in fresh players to form forward units that never had practiced together.
When the Russians made lineup changes in this series, of course, they were successful because all their players were familiar with each other. Sinden and Team Canada had the disadvantage of limited game experience and the fresh legs the coach wanted didn't blend in easily.
The Soviet Nationals took a 2-0 lead in the first eight minutes when Boris Mikhailov twice deflected Vladimir Lutchenko shots behind Ken Dryden on powerplays. Both followed penalties taken by Bill Goldsworthy.
Gilbert Perreault's hard pass-out deflected off a Russian defender to bring Team Canada to within one goall. Yuri Blinov tapped in Vladimir Petrov's pass on a two-on-one break less than a minute later to move the score to 3-1. Vladimir Vikulov ended sustained Russian pressure with another goal, closing the second period with the score 4-1.
Goldsworthy knocked in a rebound from a shot by Phil Esprosito in the third but Vladimir Shadrin again expanded the Russian to two goals, 5-2, two minutes later.
Dennis Hull beat goaltender Vladislav Tretiak, set up by an Esposito pass, to complete the scoring in the final minutes.
The shots of the third period, 23-6 in favor of Team Canada, illustrate that the game was wasn't completely one-sided. Tretiak's goaltending was superb, good enough for him to deserve the honor of being selected the outstanding Russian for the third consecutive game. But the rings presented to the No.1 player of each team went to Mikhailov and Esposito.
Demand for NHL franchises isn't likely to fall, now that it's obvious the North American professionals might actually be minor league, second-best in the world. If the best of the NHL are second-rate, how do the Atlanta Flames and New York Islanders rank as expansion additions? But NHL supporters point out that any all-star team, even the Selects, with their extensive training period, may not be as good as a Stanley Cup winning team.
Team Canada was far from its best last night. Esposito missed his best wingers, J.P. Parise and Wayne Cashman, who sat out to make room for Hull and Goldsworthy. Perreault was outstanding offensively in his Team Canada debut, and his goal marked one of the few successful long rushes made by a Canadian in the series.
But, Frank Mahovlich, Vic Hadfield and Rod Gilbert all were relatively ineffective. Hadfield and Gilbert were playing their first games since the opener, and appeared edgy and unsure when to spurt or hang back with centres Esposito and Perreault.
Gilbert did deflect one pass by Hadfield behind Tretiak, but the goal which would have made the score 3-2 was called back because the official believed he kicked the puck in with his skate.
Dryden suffered the indignity of hearing fans hoot and cheer derisively when he made easy saves. The fans thought he was unsteady, but he had little chance on all but one of the goals, and the primary reason for the Russian goals was Russian skills, not his unsteadiness.
At the other end, Tretiak was as defiant as in any of the three previous games. Bobby Hull, the fantastic shooter ostracized from Team Canada by the NHL and Team Canada, had advised many Canadian players earlier in the day "to wing a few around the guy's ears and see what happens," but Tretiak didn't waiver. The more accurate but less spectacular shooting of the Russians was more successful.
The difference, as the first half of the series was completed, was in the ability of the visitors to function better as a team. The future for Team Canada was, in a word, uncertain.
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