Canada beats Sweden 3-0 for Olympic hockey gold

SOCHI, Russia: Jonathan Toews scored in the first period, captain Sidney Crosby scored his first goal of the tournament and Canada defended its Olympic men´s hockey title Sunday with a 3-0 victory over Sweden in the gold-medal game.

Chris Kunitz also scored and Carey Price made 24 saves for the Canadians, who confirmed their worldwide dominance in their national game by winning gold for the third time in the last four Olympics.

After allowing just three goals in six victories in Sochi, 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.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 33 shots, but the injury-depleted Swedes couldn´t keep pace with the new Big Red Machine in Russia. (AP)