This Day in 1960 US Olympic Hockey

Feb. 27, 1960 – Squaw Valley, CA – Before a national television audience and a crowd of 10,000 spectators filling the 8,500-seat Blyth Arena, the United States shocked the favored USSR hockey team 3-2. Continuing a tradition of a different game, a different hero, US forward Bill Christian netted his only two goals of the medal round to lead the US back from a 2-1 deficit. It was the first time in 10 international games that the United States had beaten the USSR.

Early in the first period, Bill Cleary put the US ahead 1-0, bringing the crowd to its feet. But, the Soviets answered less than a minute later, and added a second goal in the first period to take a 2-1 advantage. It was in the second period that Bill Christian took a pass from his brother Roger and beat Soviet goalie Nikolai Puchkov on a one-on-one. With half of the game yet to play, both goalies kept the puck out of the net until 5 minutes remained in the game. That’s when Bill Christian found a loose puck in front of Puchkov and batted it between his legs. The goal gave the Americans a 3-2 lead with only minutes to play.

The USSR pressed hard in the last few minutes, but goalie Jack McCartan was stellar, as he had been all tournament. The raucous crowd counted down the final 10 seconds as the United States players killed the final 6 on 5 Soviet attack. The team rushed to center ice to celebrate their second improbable win in three days. The victory gave the US a 4-0 record in the medal round, with one game the following morning against Czechoslovakia to decide the gold medal.

Box Score
USA vs USSR | February 27, 1960

Scoring

Goalie Saves