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SOCHI, Russia -- Team Canadas best players brought their best game and left with gold. Marc Savard Authentic Jersey . On the worlds biggest stage, Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby made good on their strong tournaments and controversial roster pick Chris Kunitz sealed the victory as Canada won its second straight Olympic gold medal in mens hockey with a 3-0 win over Sweden on Sunday. Canada did not trail at any point in the final or over the course of the entire tournament and finished as the first undefeated gold medallist since the Soviet Union in 1984 in Sarajevo, beating Norway, Austria, Finland, Latvia, the United States and Sweden along the way. Until Sunday, Toews and Crosby were two of Canadas best players through the first five games but did not have a goal to show for it. Canadian coach Mike Babcock brushed off concerns about a lack of offence from his forwards, figuring they would come but hoping the stars wouldnt "run out of time." Toews, who opened the scoring with a deflection in the first period, and Crosby, who beat Henrik Lundqvist on a breakaway in the second, delivered just in time. Putting up two goals meant Sweden would have had to score as many goals in the third period as Canada gave up in its first five games of the Olympics. That defensive dominance continued against Sweden, which was without first-line centre Nicklas Backstrom, a late scratch. NHL stars accustomed to more offensive roles continued to display the kind of hard-working defensive intensity Babcock needed out of them, limiting Swedens scoring chances in the process. Goaltender Carey Price made 24 saves for his second straight shutout to cap off his impressive tournament in which he allowed just three goals in five starts. By beating Sweden, Canada became the first back-to-back gold-medal winner since the NHL began sending its players in 1998. It was the first time Canada won gold in two straight Games since 1948 and 1952. And this didnt take a fortunate bounce Quality chances came fast and furious in the games first few minutes. Crosby generated the first one 57 seconds in when he batted the puck down and found Patrice Bergeron for a shot from between the circles that Lundqvist got in front of. Canadas Jamie Benn and Swedens Niklas Kronwall traded shots before Bergeron picked off a pass from Johnny Oduya three minutes in and shot it right into Lundqvist. Swedens best chance of the first period was a minute later, when Gustav Nyquists shot from close range hit the left post behind Price. Canadas starter looked behind him to see the puck inches from the goal line before covering it up. Bergeron continued his tremendous start by shooting off the shaft of Lundqvists stick and hitting the post 11 minutes in. That helped Canada turn the tide after being on the receiving end for a handful of shifts. It was the line of Patrick Marleau, Jeff Carter and Toews that has been together the longest that got Canada on the board at the 12:55 mark. Carter skated down the right wing almost to the goal-line and found Toews streaking to the net. Able to keep his stick free from Patrik Berglund, Toews got it on the puck and deflected it off the inside of Lundqvists right pad and in. With Martin St. Louis inserted onto the fourth line in place of Patrick Sharp, Canada generated a couple of scoring chances and got a power play after Matt Duchene drew a penalty on Swedish defenceman Jonathan Ericsson. Unable to score in those two minutes, Canada went on the kill late in the first into the second after a Kunitz high-sticking penalty and got the job done. Canada had the lions share of chances throughout the second period, save for a couple of opportunities by Loui Eriksson and Erik Karlsson, who came into the day tied for the tournament lead in scoring. Karlsson also made a good stick check on Crosby to thwart the captain in open ice. But Crosby wasnt going to be denied at the 15:43 mark, when he poked the puck away from Ericsson at Canadas blue-line and blew right by Alexander Steen to get a breakaway. Crosby had just enough time to think, go backhand and bank the puck off Lundqvists left pad an into the net. It didnt have the drama of Crosby beating Ryan Miller for the golden goal in Vancouver four years ago, but as he raised his arms in the air it looked like Canada couldnt be beaten on this day. Kunitz, who made the team because of his natural chemistry with Crosby, did it all by himself to provide Canada with breathing room. Kunitz took the puck away from Daniel Sedin, skated over the blue-line and beat Lundqvist clean at the 9:04 mark of the third period. Because Canada gave up just three goals all tournament, that set off quite the celebration on the bench. Eleven players, including backup goaltender Roberto Luongo, won gold for the second straight Olympics. Crosby, Toews, Rick Nash, Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Marleau, Bergeron, Duncan Keith, Shea Weber and Drew Doughty got to celebrate twice. Some of the biggest contributors in getting Canada to the final came from newcomers, including Carter and Benn. But two of the three goal-scorers against Sweden -- Crosby and Toews -- were the same ones who scored to beat the United States in Vancouver in 2010. NOTES -- With Backstrom out, Sweden inserted defenceman Henrik Tallinder into the lineup because it did not have an extra forward. The Swedes were already without captain Henrik Zetterberg because of a herniated disk. ... Canada had no lineup surprises, scratching injured forward John Tavares and healthy defenceman P.K. Subban along with third goaltender Mike Smith. ... Brad Jacobs gold-medal-winning mens curling team was among the 11,076 in attendance at Bolshoy Ice Dome and interviewed on the video screen at the first intermission. Bobby Orr Authentic Jersey . -- The Buffalo Sabres got the lead for a change, and held onto it thanks to a stellar performance in goal by Jhonas Enroth. Milan Lucic Bruins Jersey . As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back.Vijay Singh received a favourable ruling in his lawsuit against the PGA Tour when a judge allowed his complaint that he was treated differently from other players under the tours anti-doping policy. The New York State Supreme Court only partially dismissed the lawsuit, meaning the case could be headed for trial. The tour announced a year ago that Singh would be suspended for saying in a Sports Illustrated story that he took deer antler spray, which was believed to contain the banned substance IGF-1. Late in the appeals process, the tour dropped the case when the World Anti-Doping Agency said deer antler spray was no longer a concern. Singh sued the tour in May -- the day before The Players Championship -- saying it exposed him to "public humiliation and ridicule" during the investigation. In Tuesdays order, Judge Eileen Bransten threw out five of seven elements in the tours motion to dismiss. Four of them effectively agreed with the tours argument that Singh had to abide by the anti-doping policy because he willingly signed up as a PGA Tour member. Another part of the ruling rejected Singhs claim of intentional emotional distress. "This is a big win," said Peter Ginsberg, an attorney for the Hall of Fame golfer from Fiji. "The cornerstone of our lawsuit is that the PGA Tour violated in covenant to treat Vijay fairly, and the court has allowed us to proceed with that claim." Asked if the tour or Singh had talked about a settlement, Ginsberg declined comment. PGA Tour spokesman Ty Votaw said it does not comment on pending legal matters. Along with ruling in favour of Singh on his allegations of fair treatment, the court sided with his complaint that the tour unfairly held $99,980 in PGA Tour earnings while the case was being investigated. Singh says his prize money was being held in escrow since the 2013 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, before he was informed of his suspension. Most daamaging for the tour in Tuesdays ruling is the potential for Singh to demand evidence involving other players. Reilly Smith Jersey. Both sides already are battling over how much information the tour should hand over regarding its handling of other players. "So far the tour has put up a road block and failed to produce anything," Ginsberg said. "The court has made it clear that the PGA has to satisfy our requests. Well go through discovery, and we expect to go all the way through with this." The tour is the only major sports league in America that does not announce how it punishes its players for violations, such as bad conduct. Even when John Daly told The Associated Press in 2008 that he had been suspended for six months for his conduct, the tour would not confirm it. The anti-doping policy requires the tour to announce when a player has been suspended for performance-enhancing drugs (but not which one). Doug Barron is the only player to have been suspended since the program began in July 2008. But the commissioner does not have to disclose any suspension for recreational drugs. Even though Singh agreed to the anti-doping policy as a PGA Tour member, Bransten said Singh could proceed under the "good faith and fair dealing" because of his allegation that the tour was "reckless in its administration of the program." The tour had warned players about deer antler spray because it was believed to contain an insulin-like growth factor on the tours list of banned substances. It can only be detected through a blood test -- the tour only tests urine samples. But the admission of taking a banned substance constitutes a positive test under the tours anti-doping policy. Singhs lawyers have said the amount of IGF-1 in the spray is so diluted that it would be comparable to pouring a shot glass of bourbon in an Olympic-sized swimming pool, and then drinking a shot from the pool water. ' ' ' |
