I've been getting a few searches for this data, so I thought I'd post it:
| USA | USSR | |
| 1st | 8 | 18 |
| 2nd | 2 | 12 |
| 3rd | 6 | 9 |
| Total | 16 | 39 |
The US spent most of the game behind:
| Score | Time |
| +1 | 10:00 |
| Tied | 15:23 |
| -1 | 33:37 |
With our modern-day statistical lens,I think we'd say that the US was lucky to win the game (ie – somewhat of a miracle.) When a team gets dominated on the shot board despite spending most of the game behind, the implication is that they did not control the play. Just to refresh your memory, here are the shot totals from last Sunday's Canada-USA game:
| USA | Canada | |
| 1st | 8 | 25 |
| 2nd | 16 | 17 |
| 3rd | 7 | 22 |
| Total | 31 | 64 |
Our expectations should be different here: the US was up for most of the game, and during the period that the game was tied, the shot totals were close. Of course, we wouldn’t expect the gap between two teams of NHL players to be anywhere near as large as the gap between the Soviet All-Stars and a bunch of young NHL players. But, as in 1980, the US will have to withstand a shelling in order to win today.
