Russians win gold in men's hockey win 4-3 OT victory over Germany

The Russians triumphed in the no-NHL tournament where they were favored, winning the men's hockey gold medal Sunday at a Winter Olympics where they couldn't even be called Team Russia, use their colors or celebrate while listening to their anthem.

Kirill Kaprizov scored the game-winner as "Team Olympic Athlete From Russia" came back to beat underdog Germany 4-3 in overtime to put a thrilling end to a men's tournament lacking buzz not only in South Korea but back in North America, where the NHL season went on during the games for the first time since 1994.

Russian flags — the team barred from using them by IOC sanctions for state-sponsored doping — hung behind the bench as the team celebrated and screamed with job. More than 200 fans that cheered for the team all tournament sang the Russian anthem, too, but the players did them one better and bellowed the anthem over the top of the Olympic anthem as the Olympic flag rose to the rafters.

Defenseman Bogdan Kiselevich said players sang the Russian anthem as an expression of "freedom of speech."

"You play for your country, it is more important," added Russian captain Pavel Datsyuk, who won his first gold medal at his third Olympics. "It feels good, but I have accomplished my dream. Now I have no dream."

The victory came hours after the International Olympic Committee voted not to reinstate Team Russia for Sunday night's closing ceremony. That means the Russians will again march under the "Olympic Athletes from Russia" name and the Olympic flag. The IOC formally banned Team Russia in December over a doping scheme at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, but invited 168 athletes to compete under the OAR name.

It was the first Russian gold medal in hockey since 1992 in Albertville when the team also played under a neutral flag as the Community of Independent States.

Stocked with former NHL players — Pavel Datsyuk, Ilya Kovalchuk, Slava Voynov, Mikhail Grigorenko and Nikita Nesterov — the Russians were by far the most talented team in the tournament. U.S. coach Tony Granato said they may be as good as 20 of the 31 NHL teams.