🇨🇦 Canada 4-1 Soviet Union 🇷🇺
Summit Series, Game 2
Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto 🇨🇦
Thursday, 19 September 1974

Aside from Boris Mikhailov’s overenthusiastic pre-game faceoff, the series opener had gone as smoothly as Canadian diplomats had hoped. But off the ice, trouble was brewing.

According to a research paper from the Fraser Institute, a Canadian think-tank, a Canadian citizen had gotten a court order to have the Soviets’ equipment seized as compensation for his car being destroyed in the Soviet Union’s invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. It took Hockey Canada and External Affairs to intercede to keep the series on track.

Then, soon after Game 1, the Soviets began calling into question Canadian hospitality. As part of their agreement, both teams were to take commercial flights between Canadian cities. So, when Team Canada took a charter to Toronto for Game 2, the Soviets threatened to pull out of the series. Admitting their blunder, Canadian organizers apologized, but the Soviets tabled other complaints.

Instead of a direct flight to Toronto, they had to layover in Montréal. When they finally arrived at the Royal York hotel, they had to wait two hours for their rooms…which pushed back their practice…which reportedly took place on bad ice…which was the result of a broken resurfacing machine.

The Soviet press did its part to play up the events, claiming the hotel delay lasted long into the night, depriving the players of a good night’s sleep and leading to their poor showing in Game 2, as Team Canada duplicated its ’72 win in Toronto, 4-1.

“Toronto was generally an unlucky city for us,” Vladislav Tretyak says. “We always lost there. Why is unclear. For as long as I played, we always lost there. For some reason, Toronto was an unlucky city for us.”

By then, controversy had made its first appearance on the ice. Down two goals early in the third period, Team USSR appeared to cut the deficit to one when a shot from Vladimir Petrov hit the back crossbar and bounced back out into play.

The red light went on, and the Soviets’ arms went up just as Canadian referee Tom Brown waved off the goal. Mikhailov protested, even going over to point to the red light that the goal judge behind Gerry Cheevers kept flashing. Brown wouldn’t relent. He hadn’t seen the puck go in, he said. Replays clearly show otherwise.

“Everybody in the building – everybody! – knew that puck went in except the three officials on the ice,” Mark Howe says. “There’s no doubt that puck went in the net.”

After the game, Boris Kulagin offered his thoughts on the non-goal.

“I hope I don’t see that referee again,” said the Soviet coach.

But with a rotating group of four referees, he would, and he would be glad he did.

BOXSCORE
1st Period
01:44 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Smith, elbowing
04:31 – 🇨🇦 GOAL – Backstrom (Mark Howe, G. Howe)
10:19 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Kapustin, interference
10:49 – 🇨🇦 PP GOAL – Lacroix (Tremblay, McKenzie)
12:50 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Kapustin, tripping
16:08 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Mahovlich, tripping

2nd Period
22:50 – 🇨🇦 GOAL – Hull (Lacroix, McKenzie)
28:54 – 🇨🇦 PEN SHOT – Walton missed
29:44 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Mahovlich, slashing
33:09 – 🇷🇺 GOAL – Yakushev (Lebedev)
35:39 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Lacroix, high sticking

3rd Period
53:23 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Smith, holding
56:04 – 🇷🇺 PEN – Maltsev, high sticking
57:03 – 🇨🇦 PP GOAL – Tremblay (Lacroix, Hull)
59:00 – 🇨🇦 PEN – Tremblay, high sticking

GOALTENDERS
W: 🇨🇦 Cheevers (29-30)
L: 🇷🇺 Tretyak (29-33)

SHOTS ON GOAL
🇨🇦 10+16+7 = 33
🇷🇺 13+8+9 = 30

ROSTERS
🇨🇦 Goaltenders: Gerry Cheevers, Don McLeod. Defence: Rick Ley, Brad Selwood, Paul Shmyr, Rick Smith, Pat Stapleton (C), J.C. Tremblay. Forwards: Ralph Backstrom, Serge Bernier, Paul Henderson, Réjean Houle, Gordie Howe (A), Mark Howe, Bobby Hull (A), Andre Lacroix, Bruce MacGregor, Frank Mahovlich, John McKenzie, Mike Walton.
🇷🇺 Goaltenders: Alexander Sidelnikov, Vladislav Tretyak. Defence: Alexander Gusev, Viktor Kuznetsov, Vladimir Lutchenko, Yuri Lyapkin, Gennadi Tsygankov, Valeri Vasiliev. Forwards: Vyacheslav Anisin, Alexander Bodunov, Sergei Kapustin, Valeri Kharlamov, Sergei Kotov, Yuri Lebedev, Alexander Maltsev, Boris Mikhailov (C), Vladimir Petrov, Vladimir Shadrin, Alexander Yakushev.

Article Credit: The Hockey News
Photo Credit: Team Canada 1974: The Lost Series – IIHF – HHOF – IOC