Crosby, Canada save their best for last
Canada captain Sidney Crosby proved his mettle yet again by snapping a tournament-long scoring drought that gave his team some much-needed breathing room in a 3-0 gold-medal clinching win over Sweden at the Sochi Games on Sunday. Canada was razor sharp Sidney Crosby, Jonathan Toews and Chris Kunitz finding the net to preserve its unbeaten run through the tournament, knocking off Norway, Austria, Finland, Latvia, the United States and Sweden along the way. It was Canada’s third gold medal in four Winter Games and their first outside North America in 62 years. It also marked the first time since the 1984 Sarajevo Games that a team had marched through the competition without a loss. “We played solid and we didn’t give anything up in the last few games – we played the way we needed to and it’s great to see everyone get rewarded,” said Crosby, who scored the overtime winner in the final against the United States four years ago. “Our defense was solid, so good at skating their way out of trouble we didn’t have to play in our own end, and with the guys we have offensively, the more we can stay out of there the better chance we have of creating things. “We’re really proud and we appreciate all the support, we know that there’s high expectations coming in and we’re glad that we could deliver.” Sweden and Canada had met once before to decide gold with the Swedes coming away with a shootout win at the 1994 Lillehammer Games to be crowned Olympic champions for the first time. This time around, Canada’s campaign was anchored by an almost impenetrable defense that allowed only three goals over six games, netminder Carey Price recording shutouts over the United States in the semifinals and Sweden in the final. The 26-year-old netminder – considered a potential preGames concern – led all goalies in the 12-team tournament with a minuscule 0.59 percent goals against average and .971 save percentage. “World class,” forward Rick Nash said when asked to describe Price’s play in Sochi. “The backbone of this team and main reason why we won gold. Goaltending wins championships.” Price allowed one goal in each of his first three games but was unbeatable the rest of the way, turning aside 31 shots in a hotly-contested 1-0 semi-final win over the United States before going on to stop 33 shots against Sweden. Canada’s big guns had been quiet until the final but they opened up against the Swedes with Toews, Kunitz and Crosby collecting their first goals of the Games when it mattered most. Toews put Canada in front 13 minutes into the opening period when he redirected a pass from Jeff Carter between Lundqvist’s pads. In the second period, Crosby gained control of the puck near the blueline, fought off a Swedish defender and flipped a backhand past a sprawling Lundqvist. For Crosby, considered by many to be the world’s greatest player, staying true to his approach proved a success as he helped Canada become the first country to successfully defend their ice hockey gold medal since the Soviet Union triumphed at the 1984 and 1988 Games. “You always want to score. The chances were there. There wasn’t much I wanted to change. I felt like the line as a whole was generating them, the team was generating chances,” Crosby told reporters. “You just have to trust that the puck is going to go in eventually, and luckily today it did.” Kunitz delivered the knockout blow midway through the third when he rifled a wrist shot in off the crossbar for a 3-0 lead. Since ending a 50-year gold medal drought at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Games, Canada has been the dominant force at the Games, its Olympic reign only interrupted by a seventh place finish in Turin in 2006, when Sweden took gold. Canadian forward Rick Nash said it was a different experience from four years ago. “I think it’s a different feeling,” said Nash. “Vancouver was relief, playing on home soil was such a big deal to win gold and we did it. “This time we came into one of the most hostile environments for a Canadian – into Russia, and to win a gold medal in Russia is pretty special for Canadians. “Last time was a nail-biter and probably took a couple of years off my life, but this one was just as [much] fun.” (Reuters)