1997 Summit Series: Game 6

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Clarke's slash on Kharlamov

 After the Soviet come-from-behind victory in Game 5 to take a commanding 3-1-1 series lead, you would have expected Team Canada to be demoralized because I sure was. You were expecting Russia would have gone for the kill.

Things didn't exactly unfold that way, however. Canada kept positive and felt that they could still win, while Russia, admittedly in hindsight, became overconfident and ultimately allowed the Canadians back into the series.

Canada had felt like they were finally getting into shape. Remember this was the beginning of the professionals' seasons, and unlike the Soviets who trained almost year round, the Canadians were just coming into game form. And remember also that while the Russians knew all about the Canadian game, the Canadian knowledge of the Soviet strategy was nonexistent entering the series. Now, after five games, Canada felt they were prepared to play the Soviets.

During the first period of Game 6 two West German refs Kompalla and Bata became household names in Canada. They were so brutally bad that it was charged that they were blatantly biased against the Canadian players. Canadian players were repeatedly sent to the penalty box for questionable and phantom penalties. Phantom offsides were being called as well. Somehow the Soviets were rarely being called for penalties, though. By the end of the game, the penalty minutes were 31 for Canada, just four for Russia. The truth is these two refs were dependent on the Soviets for refereeing assignments during the season and were obviously told how to ref the games.

After a scoreless first period, a flurry of scoring filled the second stanza. The Soviets opened the scoring as a low shot from the blue line by Yuri Liapkin. The Canadians would not deflate after falling behind yet again. Instead they responded with several strong minutes of sustained attacks. The pressure paid off when they shocked the Soviets with three goals in a short span of just 1 minute and 23 seconds.

Dennis Hull flipped a Rod Gilbert rebound over a fallen Vladislav Tretiak for Canada's first goal at 5:13. Then at 6:31 Red Berenson was able to center the puck to an open Yvan Cournoyer who buried the shot from the slot. And then just 15 seconds later, Paul Henderson scored what proved to be the game winning goal. He intercepted a pass by a Soviet defender and wired a slapshot past the unprepared Tretiak.

During the game Bobby Clarke took upon himself to knock out the Soviet's best skater.  Some say he acted at the encouragement of assistant coach John Ferguson although Clarke has always said he acted alone.  Clarke cracked the ankle of Valeri Kharlamov with a two-hander. Kharlamov didn't lose his footing and actually turned around to say a word or two to Clarke - this made the play seem less harmful than it truly was. Kharlamov would miss the next game and was ineffective in the final game. He had a ankle fracture.  Not a proud moment for Canada.

Team Canada's penalty killing played a huge factor in the outcome. The Soviets awesome powerplay was held to just one goal. That goal came late in the game as Alexander Yakushev made it 3-2 with a little over 2 minutes left.  The Soviets actually tied the game late in the second period. Valeri Kharlamov was able to flip a light shot over Ken Dryden, but the puck seemed to be stopped by the old-style netting that hung down from the crossbar.  It should have been a goal but the officials didn't call it and the Russians never protested. The stars of the game were Dryden and Yakushev.