Sept. 15: Canada defeats Soviet Union to win 1987 Canada Cup

THIS DATE IN HISTORY: Sept. 15
1987:Canada wins arguably the best hockey series ever played by rallying to defeat the Soviet Union 6-5 in Game 3 of the Canada Cup final.

The game at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario, like the best-of-3 series, sees huge momentum swings. The Soviets lead 3-0 eight minutes into the first period. Canada rallies to take a 5-4 lead, but a goal by
Alexander Semak
at 12:21 of the third period ties the game 5-5. The third overtime in as many games is looming until
Mario Lemieux
scores on a pass from
Wayne Gretzky
with 1:26 remaining for the win.
Gretzky is named MVP after finishing with tournament highs of 18 assists and 21 points in nine games. Many of his assists come on passes to Lemieux, who leads all scorers with 11 goals, including the winner in Games 2 and 3.
MORE MOMENTS
1960:
Maurice "Rocket" Richard
announces his retirement after 18 seasons in the NHL, all with the Montreal Canadiens. Richard retires at age 39 after playing on eight
Stanley Cup-winning teams
and finishes his career as the NHL's all-time leader with 544 goals, including 50 in 50 games during the 1944-45 season.

1976:
Darryl Sittler
's goal at 11:33 of overtime gives Canada a 5-4 victory against Czechoslovakia and a two-game sweep of the final at the first Canada Cup tournament in Montreal. Czechoslovakia overcomes deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to take a 4-3 lead, but
Bill Barber
forces overtime when he scores with 2:12 remaining in the third period. Sittler then delights the crowd at the Forum when he scores to win hockey's first best-on-best championship tournament.

2018: The Boston Bruins
defeat the Calgary Flames 4-3
in a shootout in the opener of the NHL China Games in Shenzhen. Jake DeBrusk scores the winner in the fourth round of the tiebreaker. It's the first of two games in the
NHL's second foray into China