Canada defends hockey gold, completes sweep with women

Canada forward Sidney Crosby scores a goal on Sweden goaltender Henrik Lundqvist during the second period of the men's gold medal ice hockey game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, Pool)
Canada forward Sidney Crosby scores a goal on Sweden goaltender Henrik Lundqvist during the second period of the men's gold medal ice hockey game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, Pool)

SOCHI, Russia - Sidney Crosby skated in alone on Henrik Lundqvist, faking Sweden’s goalie to the ice with a textbook-quality deke and sliding a perfect backhand into the net.

Canada did everything by the book at the Sochi Olympics, winning all six games with a ferocious commitment to defense and discipline. When Canada’s captain finally got his first goal of the games Sunday, it had none of the dramatics of Crosby’s last Olympic goal four years ago in Vancouver. But it was every bit as golden.

Jonathan Toews scored in the first period, Carey Price made 24 saves in his second consecutive shutout, and Canada defended its Olympic men’s hockey title with a 3-0 victory over Sweden.

“We’re just an amazing team to watch, the way we work together,” Toews said. “We were just all over them. It’s fun to be a part of.”

Chris Kunitz also scored as the Canadians confirmed their worldwide dominance in their national game by winning the gold for the third time in the last four Olympics. No team in the NHL era has controlled a tournament like this group, which allowed just three goals in six games and never trailed at any point of the 12-day tournament on the shores of the Black Sea.

“Not quite as dramatic as the other one,” Crosby said. “Just real solid all the way through. We knew the way we wanted to play, and the last couple of games, we were solid. With each game, we seemed to build more and more confidence.”

By the final event of the Sochi Olympics, that confidence was unshakable. Canada became the only repeat Olympic champ in the NHL era and the first team to go unbeaten through the Olympic tournament since the Soviet Union in Sarajevo in 1984.

Canada won its record ninth Olympic hockey gold medal -its first outside North America since 1952 - and joined the women’s team to complete Canada’s second consecutive Olympic hockey sweep.

The Canadians didn’t allow a goal in their final 164-plus minutes at the Bolshoy Ice Dome after the first period of the quarterfinals against Latvia, shutting out the U.S. and Sweden.

The Canadians exchanged hugs and leaped over the boards at the final horn, gathering at Price’s net for a celebration that had seemed inevitable since Crosby scored in the second period.

BOBSLED

Russian doubles up

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia - Alexander Zubkov drove Russia to victory in the four-man bobsled race Sunday, adding that gold to his two-man from earlier in the Sochi Games and making him the sixth pilot to sweep those events at an Olympics. Until now, no one had ever achieved that feat on home ice, but this track was built for Zubkov and he proved to be its master.

So, history for Russia.

History for Latvia and the United States, as well.

Oskars Melbardis of Latvia drove to the silver medal, matching his nation’s best showing in a Winter Olympic event. And 2010 four-man champion Steven Holcomb of Park City, Utah, piloted USA-1 to bronze, ceding his Olympic title but winning his third career medal - tying the most by any U.S. bobsledder - and giving his nation seven sliding medals at the Sochi Games, tops among all countries.

Zubkov had a slim lead entering Sunday’s final two runs and predicted the title would be decided in the third heat.

Naturally, he was right.

The field - with just 0.17 seconds separating first through fourth places entering the day, the closest margin in Olympic four-man history - thinned out considerably in Sunday afternoon’s opening run. Zubkov’s lead over Melbardis swelled to 0.17 seconds. Melbardis opened up an 0.28-second edge over Holcomb for second place. Holcomb was 0.15 seconds better than Russia’s Alexander Kasjanov in the race for bronze.

Holcomb got his gold at Vancouver four years ago, ending a 62-year drought for the U.S. in that race. He also won two-man bronze in Sochi, ending a 62-year medal drought for the Americans in that discipline. So, of course, at these games he became the first American pilot to win medals in both Olympic races in … yep, 62 years.

Holcomb was joined in the sled by Curt Tomasevicz of Shelby, Neb., Steve Langton of Melrose, Mass., and Chris Fogt of Alpine, Utah. For Tomasevicz and Langton, it was their second Olympic medals. Fogt won his first.

And it didn’t come easily, with only 0.03 seconds separating third from fourth. But when the Americans crossed the line, a medal clinched, a big celebration began.

CROSS COUNTRY

Russians sweep 50K

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia - Alexander Legkov led a Russian sweep of the men’s 50-kilometer cross-country race Sunday, giving the host nation its first gold medal in the sport at the Sochi Olympics.

Legkov won a four-way sprint to the finish at the end of the freestyle mass-start race, pulling away from teammates Maxim Vylegzhanin and Ilia Chernousov on the final straight and turning in a time of 1 hour, 46 minutes and 55.2 seconds.

Vylegzhanin was second after beating Chernousov in a photo finish, 0.7 seconds behind Legkov. Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway was fourth, 1 second behind the winner.

Noah Hoffman of Aspen, Colo., was the top American, finishing 26th in 1:48:04.3.

Final medals table At Sochi, Russia

NATION G S B TOT

Russia 13 11 9 33

United States 9 7 12 28

Norway 11 5 10 26

Canada 10 10 5 25

Netherlands 8 7 9 24

Germany 8 6 5 19

Austria 4 8 5 17

France 4 4 7 15

Sweden 2 7 6 15

Switzerland 6 3 2 11

China 3 4 2 9

South Korea 3 3 2 8

Czech Republic 2 4 2 8

Slovenia 2 2 4 8

Japan 1 4 3 8

Italy 0 2 6 8

Belarus 5 0 1 6

Poland 4 1 1 6

Finland 1 3 1 5

Britain 1 1 2 4

Latvia 0 2 2 4

Australia 0 2 1 3

Ukraine 1 0 1 2

Slovakia 1 0 0 1

Croatia 0 1 0 1

Kazakhstan 0 0 1 1

Sports, Pages 18 on 02/24/2014

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