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Thirty seconds into the first match in Montreal, the Boston Bruins’ Phil Esposito scored the very first goal in the series, and Canadians sat back, figuring the tournament would be a cakewalk. However, the Soviets stormed back in the game and embarrassed Canada by whipping it 7–3. Things improved marginally in the second match in Toronto when Canada fought back and won 2–1. After that Canadian nerves began to fray when the Soviets tied Canada 4–4 in Winnipeg and clobbered their hosts 5–3 in Vancouver. The West Coast fans booed Team Canada as it skated off the ice when the game was finished, and an emotional Esposito pleaded for respect on national television. After two violent exhibition games in Sweden to adapt to the larger ice surface, Canada entered the Soviet Union in a desperate situation, especially after the team lost the fifth game 5–4 in Moscow. As it turned out, and as every Canadian now knows, Canada went on to win the next three games 3–2, 4–3, and 6–5. The winning goal in all three matches was scored by Paul Henderson. That final game was watched by more people in Canada — something like 16 million — than any other televised show before or since. Certainly, the country as a whole breathed a collective sigh of relief at the final tally: four wins for Canada, three losses, and one tie. As to who assisted Paul Henderson on that last score against the Soviets’ netminder Vladislav Tretiak, the goal heard across Canada if not the world, it was Phil Esposito, natch. Espo also ended up being the scoring leader for the series, with seven goals and six assists.