Team Canada Defeats Soviets in 2 Overtimes to Tie Cup Series

Mario Lemieux scored his third goal off Wayne Gretzky’s fifth assist at 10:07 of the second overtime period Sunday night to give Team Canada a 6-5 victory over the Soviet Union and force a decisive third game in the Canada Cup final.

Game 3 is scheduled for Tuesday night at Hamilton.

On a scramble in front of the Soviet goal, Gretzky swiped a rebound off the pads of goaltender Evgeny Belosheikin, and Lemieux knocked in the loose puck.

Canadian goaltender Grant Fuhr made 12 saves in the first overtime, 7 in the second and 45 overall. Belosheikin stopped 54 shots overall.

In the first overtime, Vladimir Krutov had two good scoring opportunities for the Soviets, and Gretzky had Canada’s best chance.

The last three meetings between the teams in Canada Cup playoffs have been decided in overtime. Friday night at Montreal, the Soviets won, 6-5. In a semifinal match Sept. 13, 1984, Canada prevailed 3-2. This year’s round-robin game between the teams ended in a 3-3 tie.

Valeri Kamensky tied the score at5-5 with 64 seconds left in regulation with his sixth goal of the tournament. Gathering the puck at center ice, he powered his way through defensemen Doug Crossman and Normand Rochefort in the attacking zone and fired it past Fuhr from 10 feet out while falling to the ice.

Lemieux scored his second goal during a power play at 10:14 of the third period to give Canada a 5-4 lead. Gretzky knocked a rebound of Paul Coffey’s point shot off Soviet defenseman Alexei Kasatonov, and Lemieux fired the loose puck high over Belosheikin, who was sprawled on the ice.

Lemieux’s third goal of the game gave him a tournament-high 10, and Gretzky increased his tournament-leading points total to 19. Gretzky has set up eight of Lemieux’s goals.