Sitting on the bench as the game entered the final minute of play, Henderson "had a feeling" that he could score. He convinced coach Sinden to send him out when Peter Mahovlich left the ice. Rushing into the Soviet zone, Henderson missed a pass from Yvan Cournoyer in front of the net and was tripped by a Soviet defenceman. As he got to his feet, Phil Esposito recovered the puck and sent it towards Henderson in front of the net. The first shot was stopped by Vladislav Tretiak, but Henderson recovered the rebound and slid it past the fallen goaltender to give Canada a 6–5 lead with only 34 seconds left to play. It was his seventh goal of the tournament, tying him for the series lead with Esposito and Alexander Yakushev. The goal won the game, and the series, for Canada. The team returned home to massive crowds in Montreal and Toronto, and Paul Henderson had become a national hero.