Canada captures gold medal with 3-0 win over Sweden

Team Canada with their gold medals after beating Team Sweden in the gold medal final. (John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail)
Canada defeated Sweden 3-0 to win the gold medal in men’s hockey at the Sochi Games.
- Read Eric Duhatschek’s game story here.
Jonathan Toews, Sidney Crosby and Chris Kunitz scored for Canada while Carey Price made 24 saves for the shutout.
Wonder what this does for Price's reputation as elite goalie. Should already be pretty high, given his .919 save percentage last four years.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 23, 2014
Canada becomes the first country to defend the Olympic title since NHLers began participating in 1998.
A first period goal by Jonathan Toews and a breakaway marker from Sidney Crosby midway through the second period gave Canada a 2-0 lead heading into the third period.
Canada's five straight golds in world juniors from 2005-09 paying off again internationally. Golden generation there, led by Crosby, Toews.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 23, 2014
Much-maligned pick Chris Kunitz fired a wrist shot past Swedish netminder Henrik Lundqvist for Canada’s final goal.
Toews tipped in a Jeff Carter shot from the halfwall midway through the first period to put Canada on the board.
Canada began to take control after an early Swedish barrage and the dam finally broke when a neutral zone turnover turned into a Sidney Crosby breakaway. Canada’s captain made no mistake and beat Lundqvist on a backhand.

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.
(David J. Phillip/AP)
Sweden activated their defence to begin the third period in an attempt to create some offensive opportunities but Canada’s defence held tight. As the period wore on, Canada’s cycle game took over, pinning Sweden deep in their own zone for long stretches.
Canada outshooting Sweden 11-1 in the third period. No score effects here. Just domination.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) February 23, 2014
Pundits expected Sweden to play a defensive style to counter Canada’s superior talent, especially without the services of top centre Nicklas Backstrom, but Sweden did the opposite and forechecked aggressively from the drop of the puck.
It paid off for Sweden in the early going as Canadian netminder Carey Price was forced into several early saves.
However, Canada was able to adapt and began to control play forcing Lundqvist into several acrobatic stops.
Although not terribly busy after an early barrage, Price made several key saves to maintain Canada’s lead.
Controversy
The Swedish Hockey Federation says Nicklas Backstrom was scratched from Sunday’s Olympic gold medal hockey game because he tested positive for a banned substance.
Source: Backstrom misses Gold Medal Game due to overuse of banned substance.
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 23, 2014