Canada have won the men's ice hockey gold medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics by routing Sweden 3-0 at the Bolshoy Arena in the final.
The Maple Leafs comprehensively outplayed their Scandinavian opponents and smashed in three unanswered goals to secure their second consecutive Olympic championship in the discipline.
The 2010 Olympic gold medallists opened the scoring with seven minutes to go in the first period. Jeff Carter, on the right-hand side, played a pass to Jonathan Toews in the middle, and the 25-year-old then proceeded to smash the puck past Henrik Lundqvist.
The Swedes attempted to reply almost immediately, but Carl Hagelin's shot was saved by the glove of goaltender Carey Price.
Canadian captain Sidney Crosby doubled the Maple Leafs' advantage with just over four minutes to go in the second period, as he raced across the rink before putting the puck past the beleaguered Lundqvist.
The rout was completed in the early stages of the third period, with Chris Kunitz firing a high shot into the net to make sure of an emphatic victory for Canada.
The men's ice hockey final is the last event of the Sochi Winter Olympics, and it puts Canada in third place overall in the standings with 24 medals, nine of them being gold.
Giuseppe Labellarte
